


Life Happens

by ButterflyBunny



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Steve Rogers, Asshole! Steve, Awesome Darcy Lewis, Awesome Pepper Potts, Baby on board, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends AU, Friendship, M/M, Parent Darcy Lewis, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Polyamory, Pregnancy, Pregnant Darcy Lewis, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Stripper!Steve, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony-centric, Unplanned Pregnancy, accidental baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-22 20:53:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7453582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterflyBunny/pseuds/ButterflyBunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A crazy party and a one night stand ends up with Tony knocking up a woman named Darcy. As a result, his father disowns him. He moves to Darcy’s building, where he meets her friends. Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton’s relationship is ambiguous, to make matters more confusing Sam Wilson enters the picture. Thor and Jane are two prefect love birds and apparently everyone has sex in their apartment, except for Bucky Barnes, who just like Jane and Thor recently found out. </p><p>That leaves Steve Rogers. He’s a “frustrated artist” with a superiority complex that lives next to Darcy and well, Tony doesn’t really like the guy. At all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The One With The Crazy Neighbors

It really isn’t what he thought his life would be like.

He was twenty-six, engaged to a wonderful woman, almost CEO of Stark Industries, philanthropist, heir to one of the biggest fortunes in America and a certified playboy. Well, taking a look at that last one, maybe he should have known. One wild party and a one night stand after a few (many, many) shots and his life gave a complete turn. Yes, he gets why Pepper would broke off their engagement, but why does his father needs to ruin his life completely?

Tony follows her around the apartment while she talks about how they are going to make things work until after the baby arrives. Yes, this time Tony Stark fucked up hard by knocking up someone who wasn’t his fiancee, but is not like is just his fault, I mean, Darcy Lewis parties as hard as he does and whoever though about inviting him to a dorm party – even though none of them are in college anymore – is as guilty as them. He looks between the couch infront of the TV and Darcy’s now more prominent belly. When she finishes telling him he is going to have to sleep there until he gets an actual bed, she looks nervous. For the first time since he had known her (which was like six months – Wait, she’s four moths pregnant and he met her two months before the party… yeah, six months is accurate) Darcy looks nervous.

But about what? His presence there? She was after all the one who offered him a place after his father disowned him and kicked him out of his mansion and fired him form Stark Industries. Completely stupid since the building has his last name in big, bright letters for fuck’s sake.

“Look, man, I know is not much but…” She shrugs, “Is home” Tony looks at her, “I mean, for me! And also Jane, even though she’s moving to Thor’s and everything, it had always being-" 

“Darcy is fine” Tony grins, “I like it” He looks around the spacious enough apartment, “The couch, I mean, look at that” He throws himself to the surpassingly comfortable couch, “It's really comfty” he bounces on it a little bit. 

Darcy lets out a shaky laugh, “Yeah”

“And that TV is big so…” he shrugs, “I mean, I rather stay locked in my room reading or working, I’m kinda a workaholic so you don’t worry about getting tired of seeing this face much”

“Oh! I forgot” She says, sitting next to him, “Jane and I kinda share the TV with a few peeps”

Tony laughs, “What?”

“Yeah, I mean this big ass TV was expensive as fuck” She explains, “So we and a few others helped payed for it”

“So you move it around or something?”

She shakes her head, “Nah, the guys come here” she says, “They all have their keys and we take turns”

“Oh”

“Yeah”

Tony nods looking back at the black screen of the TV. He doesn’t know why did they – whoever “they” are – had to pay for it… collectively, he has a bigger one in his home, two actually. Darcy slaps his shoulder. 

“Help me get up" 

He nods and stands, helping Darcy along the way. He looks at her belly, where their child (Jesus christ, poor kid has an idiot for a father) is growing and then presses his lips, probably making a face too. Darcy, who first looked like she was going towards the kitchen or anywhere really since the kitchen, the bathroom and her bedroom where in the same space, puts both hands on his shoulders and makes him look at him.

“It’s gonna be fine” She says, “Look, about your father… I’m sorry that-“ 

“I don’t care about that” He says, “I just… I want to be a good father” he means it, because his father was never good, not to him, “And I want to be able to- to make it happy and… stuff”

Darcy hugs him and chuckles, “You are going to, Tony” She says against his neck, “I mean, you are awesome and smart, and funny” She pulls back and look at him, “And I’m that and more” Tony laughs, “So this kid will have a happy life” She says, “Yeah?”

She squeezes his face and he nods at her, “I will get a job as soon as I can” 

“I know” She pokes his chest, “And stop calling him and “it”, dude” She says, before she leaves to the kitchen.

Tony freezes for a second while he brain finishes processing the information Darcy so casually revealed to him. She opens the fridge and pulls out a pint of ice cream with Jane’s name on it, eating directly from the container. He walks towards her and hugs her tightly.

“Dude!” She exclaims, “What the!?”

“We are having a boy?!” He says pulling back to see her face. 

She nods with the spoon still in her mouth, “Yeah, I thought I told you“

“You didn’t! When did you find out? What else did they-“ 

Darcy leaves the ice cream and searches for something inside one of the cabinets from the kitchen. She gives it to Tony and continues eating the ice cream, leaning against the counter. Tony flips the page and realises is a sonogram. He reaches behind him for the nearest seat and looks at it. Like in every sonogram, you could barely make up the picture at first glance, but the more he stared the more it made sense. He swallows and smiles softly.

“I’m going to be a dad” He whispers, “Fuck”

Darcy chuckles, “You are getting all teary eyed, dude, that’s is so cute”

He turns to look at her and finds her looking at him through the phone screen, and he assumes she has taken at least ten pictures of him. He shakes his head and gives her the picture.

“It’s yours” She says.

“Thanks” Tony looks around, “Why didn’t you ask me to go with you? Or at least let me pay-“

“I didn’t need money, Tony” She says, “Also, I thought it was some routine check up” she shrugs, “Sorry”

“It’s alright” He says, “ Next time, let me know”

She nods. 

The doors open and a woman walks in. He remembers her from the party, vaguely, the redhead who slapped a guy for spanking her butt. She takes her leather jacket off and turns to smile at them, her smile fades a little and she looks surprised when she sees Tony and he looks away.

“Sup, Nat” Darcy says, “Do you remember Tony?”

“I do” She says, she kisses Darcy’s cheek, “Jane’s going to be upset” she points at the tub of ice cream.

“I’m more upset about her moving out so…” Darcy grins.

“Yeah, right” She chuckles, “hey, Tony” She says, “I’m Natasha" 

“I know” He nods, shaking her hand, “I um- Darcy’s-“ 

“I know” She winks at him, a knowing smile in her face, “I heard you are moving in”

“Yeah” He shrugs, “there was a room available” Natasha chuckles.

“Now that Jane’s left me” Darcy purses her lips. 

Natasha laughs, “You are happy she is finally moving in with Thor” Darcy nods, “They’ve been dating since college” she tells Tony. 

“Whoa” Tony says, “That’s nice”

“That’s almost five years” Natasha adds opening the fridge, “How are you finding the place?” She asks, pouring herself orange juice.

“Nice” Tony answers, “I like the TV”

Natasha chuckles, “Did Darcy mentioned the rules?”

Tony nods, “I guess”

“If you don’t like baseball make sure you are gone while the boys watch the games” She says, “Specially if the Dodgers are playing”

“And Steve is here” Darcy adds. 

“How many of you are there?” Tony asks making both women laugh.

“There’s Clint and Sam, my roommates” Natasha says.

“Roommates, right”

“Shush, Darcy” The redhead rolls her eyes, “Then Bucky, he lives with Steve, Steve lives across from you guys” 

“And Thor lives next door” Darcy says.

“I thought you said Jane was moving far away” Tony raises and eyebrow.

“That’s like 10 meters away!” Darcy whines.

Natasha chuckles, “That’s a lot distance for these two, believe me”

Tony nods.

“Shit, I gotta go” Natasha says, “My turn to cook”

Darcy snorts, “We are ordering pizza in here, in case your _roommates_ wanna come” 

“Funny” Natasha says, “Bye, Tony”

“Bye” 

She closes the door behind her and Tony looks at Darcy, who shrugs at him, “She likes you” she says.

“I like her” Tony says, “And Jane”

“She’s cool”

“Two down, five to go”

 

* * *

 

The first week goes just fine for Tony. His bed arrives the next day and he manages to put some furniture in his new room - Jane’s former room - thankfully she was clean and the rug didn’t need to be changed. Not that he would have since he didn’t have enough money for it. Darcy continues working despite Tony asking her to rest, she insists the doctor said it was fine so he doesn’t push, is not like they are in a relationship and he had a say in anything she did. On the bad side, he hadn’t being able to find a job that payed as much as he considered he deserved to be payed. He was reading the newspaper on his Starkpad, of course, when the doors opened and a man enters.

“Excuse me” Tony stammers, “Who-“ 

Another man comes in, also not knocking. The second man, dirty blond-ish hair looks at him and smiles.

“Hey” The man says, “You must be Darcy’s kept boy”

The black man slaps his shoulder, “Clint”

“Sorry” The blond-ish, Clint, shrugs, “You must be Darcy’s baby daddy” 

The black man sighs, “Tony, right?”

Tony nods, “Yeah, um- I’m sorry, who are you?”

The men look at eachother, “I’m Sam” The first says, “This is Clint” 

“Hey, man” Clint offers his hand.

“Tony” He licks his lips, “You are Natasha’s roommates”

Sam and Clint look at him for a few seconds before they both smile. Is weird, like they are in sync or something, and it makes Tony chuckle nervously. Then he realises they are giving him some kind of seal of approval. Darcy’s Best Friends Seal Of Approval®. He then looks at their naked torsos.

“Have you two being in towels this whole time?” He asks dumbly.

Clint laughs and Sam chuckles softly. They are both wet and Tony blinks several times, while his mind supplies him with not safe for work images.

“We were going to use Darcy’s hot water” Clint explains, “Natasha finished ours” he says, “I mean, if its alright with you”

Tony nods, “Sure… why not?”

Both men enter the bathroom leaving Tony alone again. He continues reading the screen like nothing happened, actually relieved that Darcy’s friends aren’t weirdos, well, not complete weirdos that is. Four down, Three to go.

 

* * *

 

Rhodey visits him the next day. He is surprised when he finds him outside of his door since he hadn’t told anyone where he was going after he got kicked out of his house. The man hugs him and Tony returns the hug awkwardly, he had never being a hugger and Rhodey knows but after everything that had happened to Tony he kinda needs a hug. He invites him in and vaguely shows him around before sitting in the small dining table next to the kitchen.

Rhodey speaks first, “This is... Nice”

Tony nods, not really wanting to talk about his new living arrangements, “How’s Pepper?” Rhodey stares at him for a few seconds, “She still hater me?”

“She’s your friend, Tony” Rhodey says, “She loves you as a friend above anything else, you know that”

“Then why did she turn her back on me when they were voting to throw me off SI?” Tony retorts, “Why didn’t she tell my father that-“

“Because you hurt her, Tony!” Rhodey puts a fist on the table, “Yes, you were fired, yes you are no longer a heir but-“

“I made a mistake, Rhodes!” Tony yells, “One single mistake and I deserve all of this?!" 

“I’m not saying you do, Tony, no!” The man says, “I just…” He sighs heavily, “You are not the only one suffering from all of this”

Tony stays quiet for a while, “ _I know_ ” he says, “I tried to call her to apologize but…” 

“She’s in france” Rhodey shakes his head, “For the rest of the summer, but… you can write to her?”

Tony nods. Rhodey pulls out an envelope with an address and Tony’s name on the back of it. Tony opens it and recognizes Pepper’s handwriting. He in the middle of reading it when the doors open, both him and Rhodey look at the man who just entered. A dark haired man wearing a white shirt and basketball shorts, he’s sweating and looks like he had been running, panting softly. 

“Darcy said you would be sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you” He says as an explanation. 

“Yeah, um- sure” Tony looks at Rhodey and then back at the man, “You are…”

“Bucky” He says, he looks at Rhodey, “Sorry for the interruption”

“Tony” Tony shakes Bucky’s left hand, shinny metal fingers curling around his hand, he recognizes the work, “That’s-“

Bucky chuckles shyly, “Yeah” he nods, “I was one of the few lucky ones” he says. 

About a year ago, Stark Industries offered free prosthetics for injured war veterans. The prosthetics where new generation and yes, Tony had designed and even created a few of the dozen that were made. His father didn’t approve the mass production since they were too expensive so Tony screwed him back by giving away five of the ones that were finished.

Tony looks at Rhodey who is staring at the man’s arm. He blinks several times and then stands up. 

“James Rhodes” his friend says shaking Bucky’s hand, once again he stares, and even Bucky looks uncomfortable.

Tony clears his throat, “Listen, Bucky right? I’m kinda in the middle of… something“

“Right” He nods, “I was leaving this to Darcy” He is carrying what seems to be a painting, “Steve sent it” 

Tony nods, “You can leave it here um- in the kitchen”

Bucky nods, “Be careful with it, if something happens to it Steve will kill you”

Tony nods, “Bye”

Bucky smiles at him and then waves at Rhodes, “Nice meeting you”

With that he leaves. Tony walks over to the painting but isn’t able to see what is it about since is wrapped, Rhodey raises an eyebrow at him and then clears his throat. 

“He lives here?”

Tony shakes his head, “I think he lives across from here”

“Right” Rhodey nods, “People here just come and go?”

“Relax, Rhodes” Tony says, “Darcy’s friends are nice” he adds, “No need to worry about me being mugged or something”

“Is not that” The man sighs, “You don’t- This isn’t how you are used to live” Tony frowns, “Look I talked to your father and If you-" 

He’s interrupted by Tony’s laughter, “This is- I’m sor- Jesus, Rhodey” he shakes his head, “This is _so_ Howard”

“Tony”

“That’s why you are really here” Is not a question, “Howard sent you to convince me to what? Beg for his forgiveness? I’m not-“

“Just admit you made a mistake and-“

“And what!?” Tony yells, “Kneel infront of him and ask him to take me back like some stray dog?” he says, “I can’t believe you would side with him”

“I’m not siding with anyone, Tony, I’m just-“ he sighs, “Look at this place, Tony, you are not going to stand this longer, and when you realise that your pride-“ 

“My pride, yeah?” Tony glares at him, “Why isn’t Howard here instead?” he says, “Why didn’t he at least _called_ me, Rhodey? Huh?”

Tony shakes his head and walks towards the door. Rhodey follows him with his eyes and his shoulders fall when Tony opens the door all the way for him to leave. Tony doesn’t look at him when the man leaves, doesn’t even mutters a goodbye, instead he throws the door and locks it. He clenches his jaw when his eyes water, he is hurt but not because of his father, he learnt not to care about him long ago, he is hurt because of Rhodey, and as he slides his back against the door until he is sitting on the floor, he thinks about Pepper, and wonder if he deserves everything that happened to him.

 

* * *

 

 

A knock on the door wakes him up, he had fallen asleep on the couch and had slept at least five hours since he can see is already dark outside. He walks over to the door as he checks his phone, Darcy texted him saying she was going to the movies with Natasha and Jane so he should order some food. He opens the door to find Bucky Barnes outside.

“Hey, man” He says, like before he looks a bit uncomfortable about having to talk to him, “Look, Steve made his famous pasta and I figured you would be hungry” Tony frowns, “So... I brought you some” he has a container in his hand, “Steve only cooks like two times a year and is the best pasta you will ever eat”

“Oh” Tony grabs the container, “Um- thanks”

Bucky nods, “Just make sure to return the container” he adds. 

“I will” 

Bucky nods and throws a glance before going back to his apartment, which is across from them. Tony closes the door behind him and sits on the kitchen counter, reaching for a fork behind him. The sonogram Darcy had given him is attached to the fridge held by a fruit magnet, Tony smiles softly and opens the container. His stomach growls as he twirls the fork and inhales the smell of the spaghetti, that’s when he realises he’s hungry. Bucky didn’t lie, that was the best pasta he had ever eaten.

“Five down, two to go”

 

* * *

 

He gets a job – finally – Almost three weeks later, after going to “interviews” and not getting called back because he was either too qualified – Yes, it's a thing – lacking experience working with someone else or asking for too much money – Also a thing, but only for him apparently. He likes Bruce Banner and working with him will be awesome since they have some sort of connection that makes the way they interact easily, apart from the fact that the guy didn’t talk much so Tony could do all the talking and it looked like he didn’t care. The only bad thing about it was that he could only work certain hours, unlike in SI where he had his own lab and worked whenever he wanted.

He misses Pepper and Rhodey, the only two people who prove they cared about Tony for Tony and not because of his money. He had already written a letter to Pepper, but hadn’t gotten a response, it had only being a few days anyways, but he knew Pepper wouldn’t ignore him. That’s the reason he agreed to marry Pepper.

Right after he finished college his father started talking about how he was going to inherit the company and how his children would after him, then his grandchildren and so on, Tony being young never really payed attention to that, Tony being a playboy never thought about meeting a “nice lady” and settle down. Then his mother died and his father started pressing him about that even more. He knew Pepper from college, he, Rhodey and her were inseparable, so when she mentioned her parents talking about her getting married – That at 24, she was already too old for not even having a boyfriend – She asked Tony if they could convince the world they were a couple. And of course they did. 

His father loved Pepper. He loved she was smart, but not as much as Tony, He loved she was beautiful, enough for carrying the Stark name and well, nice genetics help when it comes to children. He loved that she kept Tony grounded but most of all, he loved that Pepper’s fortune was almost as big as Tony’s.

So yeah, after several dinners with the parents things fell into place. Tony was to be married as soon as he turned 30. Well, he screwed that too.

“Tony” Bruce snaps his fingers in front of him several times, “Hello, earth to Tony” 

Tony blinks and looks at the man holding two large cups of coffee. He realises that the monitor infront of him, with the new design he had been working on, is off, He frowns and reaches to turn the machine on again. Bruce stops him and gives him the cup of warm coffee instead.

“The lab is closing”

Tony groans, “But it's seven!”

Bruce snorts, “is almost eleven, Tony”

“Huh?” He sees the clock striking 10:54, “Jeez, already?”

“You have been on that for eight hours” Bruce says, “You need to rest more”

Tony takes a big sip of coffee, humming pleased at the taste, “I am working on something important” 

“It's always important according to you”

Tony grins, “You know me so well”

Bruce adjusts his glasses and his messenger bag on his shoulder. They both make their way out while talking about their projects – Bruce is working on a machine that creates tissue or something, Tony on an source of clean energy – They don’t talk about their personal lives, Bruce knew who Tony Stark was when he met him but he never made a fuss out of it and that was more than fine by Tony, who had been told all his life that he got where he was because of his last name.

“See you tomorrow, Tony” Bruce says.

Tony nods and they go their separate ways.

When he arrives to the apartment he sees a man sleeping outside, laying on the steps right outside and covering himself with a large coat. Tony considers leaving him there as he reaches inside his pocket for his keys, but then he notices is about to rain and he sighs heavily. He kicks the man softly.

“Hey” He says, “Hey, man, wake up, is going to rain”

“Mm” The man sits and yawns loudly.

Tony raises and eyebrow. The man is about six feet tall, blond hair and extremely muscular. When he focuses his eyes on Tony he frowns.

“Have I bothered you?” He asks.

Tony shakes his head, “No” he frowns, “I live here” he says, “You are sleeping on the steps and is going to rain”

“Oh” The man, laughs, “Oh, my! I have lost my keys, my friend, so I was waiting for my love to arrive”

“Right” Tony says slowly, “You live- Your _love_ … lives here?” 

The man nods, “Indeed” He answers, “Perhaps you know her? The name’s Jane”

Tony’s eyebrows shoot up, “Jane Foster?”

“Aye” He says, what is he a pirate? 

“Yeah, I know her”

“The name’s Thor!” the man says offering his hand, “You are?”

“Tony” He says shaking Thor’s hand, “Nice meeting you”

Thor shakes his hand vigorously, “Ah! Darcy’s baby daddy, as my friend Clint says!” he adds grinning widely.

Tony presses his lips, “Sure, why not” he mutters taking his hand back.

He opens the door and Thor follows him, he hadn’t notice the man had a suitcase and then he remembers Darcy mentioned him being in Germany or something. Thor for some reason starts telling him about his trip and how much he missed Jane, worried that she had trouble settling in in their new “love nest” like he called it. Tony can’t help but chuckle at the way the man talks, cheerfully and very loud. The elevator doors opened and he sees Sam saying goodbye to Natasha, the last one who looks like she is leaving for work. Natasha works at a call center, not a strip club like she had told Tony – and he believed – the first time they met. He frowns when Sam chuckles and holds Natasha closer to him, kissing her mouth and making her smile against his lips.

“Thor” Natasha says as she passes them, she kisses the man’s cheek, “Jane told us you were coming home next week" 

“Yes, I was” He smiles, shaking Sam’s hand, “But I decided to surprise Jane”

“Sweet” Sam says, “Hey, Tony”

“I see you already know Tony” Natasha adds, “Hey”

“Hello” Tony nods, opening his apartment door.

“Indeed” Thor grins, he grabs him by the shoulder in an awkward hug, awkward for him that is, “My friend Tony helped me get in”

Natasha smiles, “Told you he was nice”

“Forgive him, Tony, Thor happens to be a hugger” Sam says, grinning at him.

Thor grins and Tony practically runs inside his apartment. He likes Thor, he decides, despite the man being too loud and having no respect for personal space. Although he wonders how did Jane, being quiet and introvert, managed to end up with someone like Thor.

“Opposites attract” He chuckles, “Six down, one to go” he adds. 

Which begs the question. Who is Steve?


	2. The One With The Artist

Here’s how things happened.

He wasn’t in college, hell no, he had graduated when he was nineteen – being a certified child Prodigy and self proclaimed genius – But his father, who occasionally gave classes at MIT, where Tony had graduated from asked (forced) Tony to be his TA in the second semester since he had been too busy on SI, but didn’t want to let students down by cancelling his Engineering class. Tony whined, complained and even faked being sick just to get out of it and screw his father, but Pepper insisted it was a good idea to get out of his lab – in which he spent way to much time according to everyone – and “give back”. Tony had almost barfed at that, but being Pepper the one who asked him so nicely he accepted.

He was a good teacher, his father’s students liked him and he enjoyed talking about what he loved. He wasn’t getting paid, but the ocasional flirting with some of the women and men was good enough.

Pepper and him agreed that as long as they were engaged they couldn’t sleep around, but if they met someone they would talked it out before doing something else. It was strange for her to say that, you would expect that from Tony, but Pepper… Not really. That was until Tony surprised Pepper with her “someone else”. One of his father’s chauffeurs, Happy Hogan.

Happy was kind, funny, honest, and liked fixing cars as much as Tony did, he knew a lot about engines to, he would have made a career out of it if his parents had the money for him to finish college. The last thing he heard about Happy was that he quit when he heard about their engagement. It was sad because Tony liked him and Rhodey too, but Pepper knew that her parents would never accept “someone like him” so Tony agreed to keep the secret for her. They both knew that for people like them, a friendly marriage had to be enough.

Then Tony fucked up.

The party was suppose to be a small gathering where he would have a few drinks, hang out and then go home, sleep a few hours and go with a hangover next day to class. But it wasn’t. The music was loud, there was heavy alcohol everywhere and even drugs. Those he didn’t touch, not since he had to get his stomach pumped when he was seventeen, _no siree_.

He was sitting in one of the couches, sipping a beer and ignoring everything else. It was a frat party but there was a lot of older people, most of them where TAs like him, enjoying the younger crowd throwing themselves at them for a good grade, he knew because well, been there done that. Tony gets bored easily, so he starts drinking and drinking, until his sight is blurry and his he can’t understand when he speaks. He ends up talking to two women, in hopes that he takes home at least one of them, he’s glad they are almost their age, the redhead says she’s a stripper and got paid to dance but no one asked her so she simply joined the party. The brunette, laughs and nods, then she kisses Tony. Tony likes her, she has full lips and big breasts, he hadn’t been with a woman in a while – he stuck to men mostly after college – one or two but nothing serious. Darcy is her name, and he fucks Darcy hard and she doesn’t mind.

The light bothered him as he woke up slowly and with a huge motherfucking headache. He doesn’t bother in checking the hour, he knows he’s late because his phone is going off, the woman next to him stirs in her sleep and he can barely remember the night before, he knows it was good though. Darcy goes to the bathroom and he starts dressing, that’s when he hears her curse.

“What?” He asks. 

She comes out of the bathroom and starts searching for something in the bed. Tony frowns and she freezes looking at him with wide eyes.

“Did you- Where is it?” She asks

“Where’s what?” He scowls, “What are-“

“ _The condom_!” She yells, “You-“

He pails, “I thought you said you were on the pill”

“Pills!” She yells, “I was on pills! Ecstasy and something else Jane told me to not touch!”

“Well“ he says dumbly.

 _Shit happens_.

Darcy calls him about a month later and he offers to pay for her to go to the doctor, she agrees, and in the middle of the night, Tony decides to call her again. They talk for almost three hours, until his ear is warm and his neck aches, he tells her that he had never taken responsibility for his actions and that is about time he does, she tells him she understands and that they aren’t as different as she thought. The next day Tony tells Rhodey. He always tells Rhodey everything first, Rhodes is smart, and Rhodes scolded him, yelled at him and told him everything he would hear from his father, except when Rhodey says it he actually cares. Is hard to tell Pepper, of course, he loves her more than anything, and he would have rather her to yell, scold and slap him than seeing her cry. When he tells his father, the man is quiet for a while.

“This is something that can be fixed easily” He says coldly, “What does she wants? Money?” He reaches for his wallet.

“Darcy never said anything about money“ And it's true, “I was the one who told her to keep-“

Howard laughs, “You asked her to- Oh, please, son, you aren’t ready for that”

“I already made up my mind” Tony grits.

“You know what this means” Howard says.

Tony nods even though he doesn’t really know what it means. Well, not back then.

“Well”

Life _also_ happens.

 

* * *

 

A knock on the door wakes him up. Loud and insistent. He growls as he stands from the bed, when he opens he finds Darcy with wide eyes, panicking and with her eyes watery. He turns the light on. 

“What happe-“

“Something’s wrong” She says sobbing, “I went to the bathroom and I wanted to pee-“

“Darcy, calm down, what happened?” 

“There was blood! I don’t know what happened! I-“

Tony swallows, “Let’s go to the hospital”

Darcy nods, “I didn’t mean to wake you up, I-“

Tony starts dressing as fast as he can as Darcy stammers an explanation of everything she did in the day that could have caused… No, he wasn’t going to panic, it was enough that Darcy was scared, and yes he was too, but he didn’t want her to feel more stressed. He grabs his phone and Darcy’s hand. He wants to call a cab but Darcy says is better if they use Jane’s car, so they wake her up. Thor drives them, since Jane and Darcy are shaking and Tony doesn’t exactly look calm enough to do so. 

When he’s sitting on the waiting room, Sam arrives. Clint and Natasha follow, holding hands and wearing tired, worried expressions, Sam explains them that Darcy still in a room and he kisses Clint’s lips, hugging Natasha. All Tony can think is what exactly is going on with those three and he’s glad it takes his mind off the real problem at the time. Bucky arrives afterwards and Natasha is already with red rimmed eyes, just like Jane. Bucky calms both women as Thor offers to buy them all coffee. They all gather to talk, except for Tony. Who looks at the empty hall they took Darcy to about an hour ago.

“Steve” Jane says, “Hey”

He looks up and he sees the infamous Steve. The Artist Steve. Pasta Magnifica Steve. Adonis looking Steve. Blue eyes look at Jane’s face as she tells him what happened, he nods and then hugs her, telling her to not worry. He then looks at Tony and scowls. Yes, he scowls at him. Eyebrows knitted together in… disapproval. 

“You are Tony” He says, “I’m Steve” 

Tony nods, “Okay” he says and it comes out harshly.

“What happened?” He asks, “You were suppose to take-“

“We still don’t know what happened” Tony says defensively, “The doctors-“ 

“Darcy Lewis?” A doctor asks.

They all gather around the woman, and Steve’s eyes linger on Tony for a few seconds before he also joins them. Natasha is the one who holds his arm while he listens to the doctor explaining what happened. The sights of relief make the woman chuckle softly and Tony feels like he had just won the lottery or something. 

“But you have to make sure the mommy-to-be rests more” She adds, “You can go see her now”

They all nod and one by one enter to the room to see Darcy. Tony stays behind and talks to the woman about it better. She tells him Darcy needs to stop working for a while, since the baby could be at risk if she moves too much. Before she leaves she puts a hand on his forearm.

“First time dad?”

Tony licks his lips and nods, “Yeah, um- We… we weren’t exactly expecting for- waiting for this-“

“I understand” She offers him a smile, “You handled it very well” She says, “Miss Darcy told me you were calm”

He feels his eyes watery, “I was freaking out” he laughs breathlessly. 

The woman chuckles, “The important thing is that you acted fast”

He nods, “Thanks, um-“

“Maria Hill” She smiles, as he shakes her hand, “Look, Darcy explained me your situation and well, this is a public hospital but is very good” She explains, “I will be in charge of Darcy’s cares now on”

Tony nods, “Of course, that would be- I- we would like that very much”

She smiles, she pulls out a small card and writes something behind it, “You can call me at any time”

Tony accepts the card and nods. He is about to enter Darcy’s room when Steve steps out of it. He raises and eyebrow at him and then looks at the doctor, who is already talking with a nurse, Steve sighs heavily and goes to the soda machine a few meters away from them. Well, fuck you Steve Rogers, Tony thinks, and forget about your stupid container. 

Six down, One to- Screw that, six is fine. Six is a fine number.

 

* * *

 

Darcy sleeps next day all day. Tony calls Bruce and tells him what happened for some reason – Actually, he considers him a friend – and the man tells him that he can take the day off, after Tony refuses, Bruce pulls out the “I’m practically your boss” card. So Tony goes grocery shopping, he spends some his savings in organic food and ice cream because his mother said you could never have too much ice cream if you were sick, He also buys her one of those body pillows pregnant woman loved so much and just because he really likes her, he gets Natasha eight pounds of those gummy bears she always seems to be eating.

When he arrives to the apartment, struggling with all his bags, he bumps into Steve. The blond is entering the elevator as he is stepping out of it, they exchange polite nods and each go their way, he doesn’t miss the way Steve frowns looking at the bags, but he ignores him.

“Hey, dude” Darcy greets him from the couch, “What the hell is all that?”

Tony leaves the groceries in the counter, “Food” he answers, “Healthy”

Darcy groans, “You lost it! I knew it would happen, You are freaking out” she laughs, “What the hell is that for?” She walks over and hold the gummy bears.

“That is for Nat” He says, “Natasha” he corrects himself, he couldn’t call her that, they weren’t friends or anything.

Darcy chuckles, “Dude” She grabs the pillow, “I’m sorry I scared us” she shrugs, “I-“

“Don’t apologize, jeez, Darcy is fine” He says, “I think is fine now”

She nods, “You’re cool” she pinches his cheek, “The guys like you” she grins, “Ice cream!”

Tony opens the ice cream tub and stabs a spoon in it, sliding it to Darcy across the counter. She accepts it gladly, sitting on the stool behind her. He then continues to arrange the groceries, it was the first time he did such thing – God, he’s spoiled – And Darcy continues to eat the ice cream. He knows her friends like him and he likes them back. Well, most of them.

“What’s with Steve?” Tony asks.

Darcy tilts her head, “What about him?”

“I mean, what’s his deal” He continues, “He seems… anal” 

Darcy laughs, throwing her head back, “Anal” she repeats.

“Yeah, _uptight_ ”

She shrugs, “He’s had a rough couple of months” Tony raises and eyebrow, Darcy swallows the ice cream, “You know he finished his service recently, right?”

“He’s in the army?" 

“Was” She corrects, “Like Buck, you know, where he lost his arm and stuff” Tony nods, “Anyways, he comes back from war five months ago” she says, “His girlfriend of three years Sharon – Slut – dumps him for some douchebag, actually she had been cheating of him for about a year” Tony winces, “Two months after that, his ma dies” 

Tony turns, “Jesus” 

Darcy nods, “Sara was all he had”

Tony stays quiet.

Darcy then says, “Losing ones mother is… I mean I wouldn’t know, Leona is still around, bless her, but I can’t imagine my life without her calling me every single day to ask me stuff”

Leona was Darcy’s ma, she lived in Miami and visited Darcy every christmas, birthday and 4th of july, that much she told her. Tony had already had the pleasure to meet her, via Skype, where Leona spoke for two hours about Darcy’s life. From babyhood to adulthood.

Tony nods softly, “I understand”

Darcy looks at him. Of course she knows about the car accident that took his mother and almost killed Tony too. Everyone knows, everyone had seen the picture of 16 year old Tony with his hand on his mother’s casket while he struggles not to cry.

“I don’t know, man” Darcy sighs, “Even in his darkest days Steve used to… manage” She says, “But lately… We all try to make him happy, get him out of his room” 

“You are all he has now”

“Yup” She says, “I mean, he’s barely 26 and all that shit gets thrown to him”

Tony nods, “Yeah”

Darcy smiles, “Whatever he said to you” she adds, “Don’t take it personally" 

“I won’t”

“Hey, thanks for the pillow, by the way”

Tony nods, “No biggie" 

Tony sighs. That’s why Steve scolded him about Darcy. The poor guy couldn’t stand the thought of losing someone else. Darcy hops off from the stool and walks over to the couch where she continues watching television, cuddling with the big pillow Tony bought her. Tony finishes his task and then sees the empty container Bucky had given him, and as stupid as it sounds he feels guilty about not returning it.

Jane comes by a few hours later and tells Darcy that she is good for maternity leave. Tony leaves them to talk while he takes the container to Steve’s apartment. He thinks about knocking and leaving it in the floor but that sounds stupid, he is about to knock when he notices there’s music coming from the other side of the door. He moves close trying to figure out why does the melody is so familiar and her smiles when he realises is Billie Holiday, his mother’s favorite.

The door suddenly open and his cheek hits Steve’s chin, he takes a step back and stares into Steve’s paint covered naked chest. Steve frowns at him.

“Fuck- sorry” He says, “I-“

“What are you doing here?” Steve asks.

“Ok, hostile” Tony says, Steve’s eyebrows shoot up, “Look, we started off wrong” he says, “I’m not exactly use to meet people and stuff, so I might have been kinda rude, but in my defense you came up way too harsh too, with all that scowling and –yeah, like that – and I know-“

“I was rude” Steve says.

“Yeah” Tony nods, “And I was too but that’s not the point, I mean-“

“No, I mean, I know I was” Steve says quietly, almost shyly, “Look it was a bad day yesterday, I was fired for like the third time this month and then I hear about Darcy” Steve looks at him, Tony licks his lips, “I’m sorry” 

Tony blinks several times, “Ok” he says slowly, “Yeah, fine, me too”

Steve nods, “Ok” He says, “Bye”

He is about to close the door when Tony stops him. Steve opens the door and Tony grins nervously. 

“Billie Holiday, huh?” He says, “Old timey kinda guy?”

“I guess” Steve shrugs, “I was dusting off a few of ma’s old records”

Tony nods, scratching his chin, “You were busy…” He adds, looking at Steve’s chest. 

Steve nods, “Yeah, I was”

Steve shuffles on his feet, now looking uncomfortable, which is all the contrary to what Tony wanted. What exactly did he want after all? He actually forgot the minute Steve opened the door shirtless and sweaty.

“So… you live with Bucky, right?” 

“Yeah” Steve says slowly, “Since… Forever”

Tony remembers what Darcy said about Steve spending too much time locked in his room alone. He doesn’t know how to make friends, he knows he sometimes comes off as a snob, specially for the whole hating to be handed things pet peeve of his.

“Look, um- if you ever want to come to the apartment and hang out… Or whatever…” He trails off. 

Steve frowns, “Is that what you came here to do?” 

Tony frowns, “What do you mean“

“Look, I know about you” Steve says with an accusatory tone, “Genius, billionaire, playboy?” He continues, “Just because you are the father of Darcy’s baby doesn’t mean you are just welcome into _our_ lives”

“What-“

And then Steve closes the door in his face. Fuck. That. And fuck his stupid container.

Steve Rogers is an asshole.


	3. The One With The Best Friend

Darcy asks him to hang out with the rest of the guys several times after that, and he refuses, saying he’s got work to do or that he’s busy with something else, it was in part true because hey, he has a baby on the way and he has to work for the money, and in part and maybe – _just maybe_ – it still bothered him Steve’s reaction to his invitation to hang out. Yes, Tony was not an easy person to be around but seriously it’s his father’s fault. He doesn’t understand what Steve meant with “that’s what you came here to do though”, was he upset about Tony being part of their little family or whatever? Was he suppose to get a special invitation to the clubhouse? He made Tony feel like scum between his toes after all. He thinks about telling Darcy but he doesn’t want her to get upset too, he also thinks about confronting Steve but he scratches that idea. So he tells Bruce.

The man sits next to him while they are having lunch, chinese from a small restaurant Bruce likes and Tony is growing fond of too. He starts by talking about work but then he realises using their free time to talk about work is… lame, so he talks about something interesting. Like Tony’s life. He tells Bruce about Steve’s “personal attack” and the man chuckles.

“Look, if what you say about this guy is true, him not having many people, perhaps he’s worried you will somehow… steal them from him” Bruce says.

Tony snorts, “That’s me, people stealer, is my charm let me tell you”

Bruce stares at him, “Don’t sell yourself short, Tony” 

“What did you say about me being short?” Tony raises an eyebrow, Bruce chuckles rolling his eyes.

“How’s your girlfriend doing?” 

The question takes him off guard, “Darcy’s not my girlfriend”

Bruce nods, he stays quiet for a few seconds and then he says, “Mind if I ask about that?” 

Tony chuckles, “We hooked up” He says, “And well…”

He waits a few beats for Bruce to say something or at least scowl, but it never comes. Instead Bruce nods and continues eating in silence, that is one of the reasons he liked Bruce, even though they hadn’t known each other for too long – not long at all, actually – So he smiles softly at himself and continues stuggling with the chopsticks and the noodles. Bruce speaks after a few seconds about his girlfriend, Betty Ross, and Tony had heard about her for some reason.

“Isn’t her father a general or something?”

Bruce nods, frowning slightly, “You know him?”

Tony shakes his head, “My friend Rhodey does” Bruce nods, “I met him in a New Year’s party my father hosted last year”

“Oh” The man chuckles, for some reason is sad, “He hates me”

Tony looks at him with a frown. Alright so they were really opening to eachother and all that, that didn’t bother him, what caught him off guard was the way Bruce said it, his tone sad and gloomy, All the contrary to the tone he used when he mentioned his girlfriend.

“Um” Tony says dumbly, “That sucks” he swallows.

Bruce nods, “I guess” Tony nods, “I mean, she adores him and everything, I don’t really know why is she still with me if he doesn’t approve”

“Because she loves you, man” Tony shrugs, “even above her father”

The man stares at him for a few seconds and then smiles softly. It was as if he needed someone else other than himself to tell him that so he could accept him, Tony grinned and continued eating. They didn’t work much after that so Bruce said he could go home early – Early for them being 9 p.m. – Tony was so tired he didn’t insist in staying.

 

* * *

 

He gets to the building about an hour later and he waves at Bucky who is leaving for work, he’s a bouncer at “a really fancy club” in the upper east side, Clint is with him, he’s a bartender at the same club, he actually got him the job.

“Oh, Tony!” Clint yells, “You have a visitor!”

Tony frowns and enter the building. Once he get to his floor he sees Steve entering his apartment, the plastic food container that Bucky had given Tony in his hand. Tony thinks about offering him a polite nod but given that Steve ignores him he does too. He’s about to open his door when he hears a familiar laugh inside the apartment, he opens and finds Pepper Potts, in high heels and wearing an apron, decorating a cake while Darcy sits infront of her laughing. Jane sees him first and she smiles widely.

“Look, who’s here” She says.

“Sup, man” Darcy greets, “you are here early”

Tony blinks several times trying to process the scene infront of him. Now, he wasn’t easy to surprise, hardly something managed to make him silent, and this was one of the things that left him completely dumbfounded. Pepper grins at him and takes the apron off, passing the cake to Jane carefully.

She smiles at him, “Hey, Tony”

“Pep” He says.

Pepper raises and eyebrow and then pulls him in for a hug. Tony returns it hesitantly at first as if he isn’t sure she’s real, and then tighets the embrace. The two woman look at eachother and smile, it was clear for them that Tony didn’t have many friends, or anyone really since he never mentioned it to them. Tony pulls back and Pepper cups his face softly.

“Pepper has been waiting here for three hours” Darcy says, “So… We are going to leave you two alone so you can talk it out”

Jane makes a sound, “But Natasha said-“

“Dude” Darcy chuckles, she throws an arm around Jane and drags her out of the apartment.

Once they are alone Pepper and Tony sit on the small dining table for four. That’s when Tony realises that there are a few bags in the corner of the room, he looks at Pepper who shrugs.

“I just arrived” She explains, “From France, I wanted to talk to you”

Tony nods, “I’m sorry, Pepper, about everything, about not telling you first and-“

“Is alright, Tony” She smiles, and then shows him her left hand, the shinny thing around her finger.

He blinks, “Wh- How? Who?“

“Happy talked to my dad” Pepper says, “He flew to France just to talk to him, to ask him permission to marry me”

Pepper tells him that she was scared at first. They were having dinner at their hotel when Happy appeared, demanding to talk with her father about them, Mr. Potts refused at first and Happy insisted for three days after that. Once they got to talk, Happy told her father that he had been given a small fortune from his grandmother, who passed away recently, and that was the reason he quit after she got engaged to Tony. He was going to be able to finish college and once he did he wanted to marry Pepper, but he knew her father’s permission was important for her. 

“My father just nodded” She chuckles, “Like he does when he closes a deal, icky I know but is the language he speaks”

Tony snorts, “I know” 

“Anyways, he kneeled right there and then and my mother was a crying mess” Pepper laughed, “She ruined all her make up and didn’t even care”

“I need pictures” Tony grins.

“Believe me, you won’t find them” Pepper shakes her head, “My father told me afterwards that any man who was willing to work hard enough for me was worthy”

Tony takes her hand and squeezes, kissing the back of it afterwards, “I’m so happy for you, Pepper”

She smiles, “I am happy” Tony nods, “What about you, Tony?”

Tony looks at her with a frown. Pepper raises an eyebrow and huffs after a few seconds, almost amused by Tony’s confusion. 

“Darcy is a nice woman” She says. 

“She is” Tony nods, “But we aren’t, we-“ 

“Oh” Pepper frowns, “I thought… I mean you moved in with her and everything”

“I got nowhere else to go, Pep” He sighs, “I don’t have enough in my savings account for an apartment of my own”

“Your father cut you off?” Pepper exclaims, he nods, “Oh, my god, Tony! I didn’t think it was for real!”

He shrugs, “Howard’s a dick”

“What are going to do now?” She asks, “I mean you have a baby on the way, and that means-“

Tony shakes his head as Pepper continues her rambling, in that motherly voice she used when she was worried about him. He puts both hands in her shoulders and sighs.

“Pepper, Pepper, calm down” Tony chuckles, “You kinda missed the freaking out phase here” he says.

“I’m sorry I left, Tony” She mumbles.

He waves a hand, “I figured it out” He says, “I mean, I got a job-“

Pepper snorts, “You what?” he rolls his eyes, “A job? As in, you have a boss?”

“Yes, and for your information he’s pretty cool, we are friends” he adds, “Sort of”

Pepper presses her lips trying to not laugh, but then Tony groans and she does. She hugs him and he puts his head on her shoulder.

“I’m proud of you” She says.

“Pep, don’t make me cry” He mutters, “Thanks” he adds, “I am fine, truly, and my son will grow up happy and with everything he needs”

Pepper squeals, “You are having a baby boy?!” Tony nods, “Oh Tony!” she hugs him. 

He chuckles, “Yeah”

“Wait” Pepper looks at him, “Holy… Oh, my!”

He frowns, “Pep, what is it?”

“I think there might be a way to get your money back” She says.

“What?” Tony frowns, “Pepper, I don’t want-“

“I saw once a few documents that stated that your mother’s money was suppose to go to you… Shit, I don’t remember, but I will get those papers” She says, “That is if you want”

Tony sighs, “Howard will never-“

“It is your right, Tony” She raises an eyebrow, “Don’t let your pride get in the way of that”

Tony presses his lips, “Just tell me what it is first” he says, “Then we will see if there’s something we can do without things getting messy” 

Pepper nods, “Team Pepperony” She smiles.

On the other side of the door there is a muffled “Awww Pepperoni” coming from Jane and Darcy. 

They eat Pepper’s chocolate cake with Jane and Darcy. Pepper and Jane bond over the fact that they are both getting married soon, Darcy and Tony complain about them being saps all the way through the conversation. Pepper leaves after an hour later, saying she has to visit her mother before she goes to her apartment, Jane leaves when Thor calls her telling her he brough dinner, leaving Darcy and Tony alone.

They are doing the dishes when Darcy speaks. 

“Steve came by” She says. 

“Mm”

“He said you had a food container” 

“Yeah, Bucky brought me food” He answers, “I forgot to give it back”

Darcy chuckles, “You don’t like Steve much, huh?”

Tony raises an eyebrow at her, “Is more like he doesn’t like me” He presses his lips, “He… I tried to be nice”

“He is not a fan of… your kind” Darcy tells him.

Tony scowls, “My kind” he repeats.

“Rich” Darcy says, “I’m not saying you are spoiled or anything, but-”

“Well, maybe he read the newspapers” He mutters.

After the accident that took his mother from him, Tony started acting out. He started drinking a lot, doing drugs, spending money and time with people that just weren’t good for him. Being the son of a very important man he ended up a few front pages. 

“He just want-“

“To keep you all safe, I understand” Tony says, “I’ve been told how toxic I am for people before, Darcy”

He finishes with the dishes and turns to leave. Darcy calls his name but he ignores her. His room is now more… his’. The walls are filled with his notes, his desk is as messy as he use to have it back in the mansion and there is clean and dirty laundry everywhere. The small bed is the only thing that is clean, still made, and he can’t remember the last time he slept. He falls into the bed and closes his eyes, drifting into a deep sleep.

 

* * *

 

There is a knock on the door. Outside not in his room, but he can hear it almost clearly. Tony stands up muttering curses and walks towards the door, wondering where is Darcy when he passes infront of her room and sees the door open and then bed emtpy. 

“Coming!” He yells, “I’m- goddammit- I’m coming”

He opens to find Steve outside. Tony clenches his jaw and closes his eyes, turning to the kitchen, leaving the door open for Steve. He hears the door close and Steve walking towards the small kitchen table.

“Dar-“

“I need coffee before” He says.

“At this hour?” Steve asks, “Before what?” 

“Before you start lecturing me about how I’m shit because I was born with a silver spoon up my ass or whatever” Tony retorts, “And what do you mean at this…” he trails off and looks at the microwave clock, “Why the hell is it one a. m.?” he groans, he could swear he had slept over five hours, “Where is Dar-“

“Darcy is with Jane” Steve answers, “Is Jane’s birthday, they have this tradition”

Tony turns the coffee machine on anyways, “Tradition?”

Steve nods, “Every year at midnight, Darcy kidnaps Jane” he makes airquotes with his fingers, adorable Tony thinks, “They watch Romy and Michelle's Highschool reunion and eat pizza” Tony hums, “Thor is in my apartment, he wanted to go to Natasha’s but…”

“Too crowded?” Tony raises an eyebrow and Steve chuckles nervously, “What’s with that, anyways”

The blond shrugs, “They… Is good for them” he says, “I could barely keep one, imagine two” he adds with a small, sad smile. 

Tony pours two cups of coffee and sits infront of Steve, sliding one of the cups towards the blond who shakes his head softly at first but then accepts it. By the way he’s dressed Tony can tell he was out, his shoes are dirty – like he walked a long way – and his shirt is rumpled. He thought about confronting him but the blond looked so… Miserable, tired.

“I work late” Steve says, “I got home and found Thor snoring in my bed” he chuckles, sipping his cup of coffee.

“Okay” Tony says.

“Darcy scolded me” Steve continues, he sighs, “I… I wanted to apologize for what I said-“

“It’s fine, I get-“

“No” Steve shakes his head, “I was… I thought you were-“

“Making a move on you?” 

“-With Darcy” Steve finishes.

Tony frowns.

Steve frown.

Tony raises and eyebrow and Steve looks at the cup of coffee in his hands nervously, he blinks several times at the blond and then licks his lips.

“So you though I was flirting with you and it bothered you because you though I was with Darcy?”

Steve sighs and nods softly. Tony laughs softly and then takes a sip from his coffee.

“In my defence, Bucky told me you two were” Steve says, “I mean, you did moved in with her”

Tony nods, “Yeah, but… I don’t… We aren’t”

“Why?” Steve looks at him, “I mean, Darcy is an amazing woman, she’s smart and funny… and she’s carrying your child”

Tony swallows, “I know” he says, “I know all that but…”

Steve frowns, “But?”

“I don’t want to be with someone just because she’s carrying my child” Tony says, and his throat feels tight for some reason, maybe because of the way Steve is looking at him.

Steve looks away, “But you will take care of her, right?” Steve asks meekly.

Tony looks at Steve, “Yes” he says, “Yes, I will”

The door opens and Bucky enters the apartment. Both men look at him and he yawns, he also looks like he had just gotten to the building.

“Let me guess” Steve says, “You forgot your key again”

Bucky grunts, “I lost it”

Steve chuckles and nods, “I’ll be there in a sec”

Bucky nods and then throws a glance at them. Tony waves and Bucky nods, leaving them alone again.

“I can’t believe Darcy hung it” Steve says all of sudden.

Tony looks at him and then follows his eyes to the small living room area. Above the big television screen there is a painting – Tony remembers Bucky had left it a few days ago and Darcy has asked Thor to hang it – It was a nude painting of Darcy herself. It was nothing raunchy or… tacky, in fact it was beautiful, she was sitting on the floor with a sheet one her lap, both hands above her head playing with her hair – like she was tying up her hair – and her breasts in full view. How the hell did Tony missed that? Tony raises an eyebrow at Steve.

“She insisted” Steve says as an explanation.

Tony hums, “It's really good” he says, “Do you do commissions?”

Steve almost chokes on his coffee, “What?”

“You know, if I payed you to paint something for me” Tony says.

“I don’t know” Steve shrugs, “I could I guess”

“Pepper would love a painting of me on my birthday suit”

“Wh- what? I don’t-“

“Kidding” Tony raises an eyebrow.

The doors open again and Bucky grunts, “Steve, key”

Steve sighs, “Alright, alright" 

Bucky leaves and Steve turns to Tony, who stands up and walks him towards the door. Before he leaves, Steve looks at Tony for a few seconds.

“Just to be clear” Steve says, “Are we good?”

“Sure”

Steve smiles. Fuck, Tony thinks, because Steve is gorgeous. Even looking as tired as he does, his hair pointing in different directions and dark bags under his blue eyes. Steve leaves with Bucky and they enter their apartment, leaving Tony standing in his doorstep like an idiot. He smiles to himself closing the door and though he had a cup of coffee he goes back to bed feeling his eyelids heavy, he’s about to fall asleep when he realises that Steve didn’t say he was bothered by the idea of Tony flirting with him.


	4. The One With The Secrets

The thing about Steve, he realises days later, is that he has this way of staying with you after you meet him. In Tony’s case, his words. The days after their little midnight talk Tony can’t help but imagine how things would be for his son if he and Darcy would actually end up together, as a serious couple. Darcy was beautiful, smart and fun – a triple threat – but Tony never though about starting a relationship with her, that was until Steve said he thought they were an actual couple.

Pepper calls him that day and tells him that they should meet to talk about his father and the “delicate” business that she had mentioned before. He can’t help to find funny how Pepper was treating everything as if they were in a mystery soap opera. The restaurant his father’s favorite spot to host meetings for some reason, he had been there plenty of times, but this time he felt like everyone looked at him funny, whispering as he made his way to Pepper.

“Tony” Pepper says with a smile when he approaches the table she had reserved for them.

Tony kisses her cheek, “Place’s nice” he mutters, knowing that is one of the most expensive places in New York.

“We are just having tea” Pepper says, “I invited Rhodey but… He says you two had quite a fight”

Tony sighs, “Yeah” he licks his lips, “I’ll talk to him" 

"He isn't aware of the... situation?" Pepper asks, Tony shakes his head chuckling and she rolls her eyes, a small smile tugging her lips, "I won't tell him, then"

The waiter appears and leaves them with the menu, which Tony slides away from him despite Pepper insisting it was her treat.

“So what is this about anyways?” Tony clears his throat, “I mean, you mentioned something about my money but-“

“Is your mother’s actually” Pepper says, she reaches inside her purse, “I investigated about that, and turns out she left quite a sum of money to you, but since you were more busy spending Dad’s money-“

“Hey”

Pepper chuckles, “You never checked on that” Tony sighs, “besides I bet your father never mentioned that your mother had money too” Tony shakes his head, “She couldn’t fix things for the money to go to you since… Since her death was accidental so her accounts were frozen, including a trust fund she had for you”

“I’m not taking my mother’s money, Pep, not like that” Tony says.

Pepper nods softly, “But is not anyone else’s but you” Pepper insists, “And your son’s”

Tony looks at her and sighs, “Why didn’t my father said anything?”

She shakes her head, “He didn’t think you would need that money or found out about it” Tony nods, “But my mother who happens to share the same lawyer with your mother, who also happens to be my godfather, might have told me everything about it”

Tony’s eyes widen, “Did you went full secret investigator for me?” he smirks softly, “Oh, Pepper”

“Anything for you” Pepper smiles and shrugs, “It will be easy to put the money on your son’s name… We’ll just have to wait until he’s born to see if…“ She stops herself all of sudden and looks at Tony somehow embarrassed. 

It takes a few seconds to understand why she did and when Tony gets it he simply nods. Pepper still had her doubts about Darcy’s baby being Tony’s and it didn’t surprise him, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I’m guessing I am going to need a lawyer since your godfather might be too expensive" 

Pepper nods, “I would love to ask him to help you but-“

“He doesn’t do pro-bono” Tony nods, he puts his hand over her's on the table, “It’s alright, we’ll figure it out”

Pepper smiles brightly, squeezing his hand. 

They end up talking about Pepper and Happy, how she was planning on moving in with him before the year ended and the wedding being in the beginning of the year. They part ways after that, and Pepper promises to start moving things for him without his father finding out.

 

* * *

 

“My back is killing me!”

Tony turns the stove off, Licking the spoon he had been using to stir the pasta and then setting it aside. He throws a glance to the living room where Darcy, Jane and Thor have been watching some comedy show for the past three hours. Jane chuckles when Tony looks at Darcy and rolls his eyes, a small smile in his face. That is because they both know Darcy is being loud just so Thor moves from massaging his fiancee’s shoulders to her own.

“I’m dying here” Darcy says, kicking the Thor softly.

He smiles when Thor kisses Jane’s calf and then moves to massage Darcy’s feet. Tony sets the table, he sighs when he sees none of the plates match and his anxiety starts to kick in even when he tries to ignore it. He stares at the table for a few seconds.

“Need any help?”

Jane puts a hand on his shoulder making him jump. She smiles at him and then chuckles, taking the forks he had in his hands and had forgotten about lining them up in the table. He purses his lips, straightening them as Jane moves around the table unconsciously, he drums his fingers on the table as he follows the burnette without realising it he’s doing it until Jane stops walking and he bumps against her back.

“It looks great” She says.

He nods, “Yeah”

Jane tilts her head, “Are you alright?" 

Tony frowns and nods, “Sure”

“You look tired” She continues, “Too much work?”

“I’m use to overworking myself” He says, “It runs in my family”

Jane chuckles, “It’s more like a people of science thing”

They walk to the kitchen and Jane passes him the glasses one by one, they are wet since he had washed them minutes before so the woman dries them with a cloth before Tony puts them on the table.

“So you are a scientist?” Tony asks, trying to remember if Darcy had mentioned what her best friend did for a living.

“Astrophysicist” Jane nods, “I’m working on my own theory at the moment” she adds proudly. 

Tony’s eyes shoot up impressed, “Amazing” Jane smiles, “You… Um… And Thor works with you?" 

Jane frowns slightly, smiling despite, “I see Darcy talks a lot about us”

Tony chuckles nervously shaking his head. He doesn’t say he had actually ask Darcy about Steve, he doesn’t want her to think he’s too interested in their lives in case Jane finds it strange.

“I try not to pry much in your lives”

Jane shakes her head, “Hey, you are one of us now” She smiles looking at her fiancé across the room, “Thor’s an english teacher at the university” 

“Oh” Tony nods, still processing what Jane first said, a feeling of warmness spreading through his chest.

Jane reaches for the wine in the cabinet next to him and gestures him to reach for something next to him. He passes her the corkscrew chuckling mentally when Jane struggles to open it.

“And if you are wondering, Natasha works at a call center but she’s finishing school, she wants to be a nurse”

“A nurse?” Jane nods, “Cool”

She smiles.

“Sam is an architect, Clint’s a bartender and Bucky too, I think” She chuckles, “Steve’s between jobs right now, so I’m not sure what he’s up to now”

Tony smiles, “Thanks” 

“You’re welcome” She winks at him. 

“It smells amazing” Thor’s arms wrap around Jane’s waist and he kisses her cheek, “Who cooked?” He asks, a teasing tone for some reason. 

Jane snorts, “obviously not me” 

“I don’t want my apartment to burn down!” Darcy yells from the couch 

Thor chuckles, “Or the building”

“Hey!” Jane slaps his shoulder playfully, “Tony here cooked us this amazing mean, I am pouring the wine” she says matter-of-factly.

Tony chuckles, “She’s trying”

Jane snorts and nods, “Please?” she turns to Thor.

Thor takes the wine bottle from her hands and opens it easily without even using the corkscrew, Jane slaps his shoulder again and he kisses her cheek. Tony looks away awkwardly right before there’s a knock on the door, he moves quickly to open it and Darcy snorts from the couch. 

“We came for food” Natasha sings.

Tony snorts. Natasha kisses his cheek as she enters, followed by Sam and Bucky.

“It smells Ama-zing” Sam says, “Did Jane cook?!” he says faking shock.

Jane pulls out her tongue to him and hugs Natasha.

“Where’s Clint? You know, my _favorite_ one” Jane retorts loudly and Sam laughs, “Actually, Tony cooked” she winks at him.

Natasha pats Tony’s shoulder, “Nice” she winks. 

Tony smiles. 

“Oh, Clint’s stuck at work today and so is Steve” Natasha purses her lips as she accepts a glass of wine Thor offers her. 

“One the bright side there’s more food for us” Bucky says, already finding his seat in the table, “and wine”

“Bucky being optimistic for once” Jane kisses the man’s head and he rolls his eyes with a small smile on his face. 

“Let’s eat!” Darcy exclaims sitting on the table. 

The dinner goes very well. Tony can breath again when Natasha compliments him on his pasta and Bucky says something about it being as good as Steve’s, which makes the table go “Ohhh” at unison. Thor is in the middle of talking about his day (and some family drama) when Tony’s phone buzzes. He checks it and purses his lips.

_Why the hell is it so hard to find a good lawyer? – P._

Pepper had called him a few days prior telling him that the hunt for a lawyer was going to be more complicated since they all ran as soon as they heard the name Stark. Tony had known from the beginning that it was going to be complicated, specially if he couldn’t actually pay good money for one.

“Something wrong?”

He blinks several times realising the table had gone silent around him. He nods and then waves it off.

“Yeah- um- Is this lawyer thing” He throws a glance to Darcy.

Of course he had told Darcy about what Pepper and him were doing. After the talk with Steve he realised that maybe he could end up loving Darcy the way he should, and trusting her was the first step. Darcy had suggested getting a paid lawyer but the ones Pepper had mentioned and the ones Tony knew charged almost three times wheat they both earned in a month. Darcy puts a hand on his shoulder and purses her lips. Tony looks at the others and notices they are all wearing the same expression, something between confusion, questioning and concern.

He clears his throat, “I… There’s this trust fund my mother left me and I- needed a lawyer to sort things out” 

“Do you need money to get one?” Jane asks, she looks at Thor, “We could help if you want”

“Yeah, man” Sam nods, “I mean if you guys need anything…” he trails off. 

“You know we are here” Natasha adds.

Darcy smiles and then looks at Tony who chuckles softly. 

“Bucky!” Jane exclaims, slapping the man’s shoulder.

Bucky, who had just taken a forkfull of pasta, grunted and looked at her with a questioning look his mouth still full of food. Darcy says something about him not having manners. 

“Murdock!” Jane adds.

The man swallows, blinking slowly, “Matt” he says.

Natasha frowns, “Bucky’s ex?”

Bucky grunts, “We never dated”

Jane nods at Natasha, “Yeah, he’s a lawyer”

“We never dated” Bucky says again. 

“Yes, you did” Natasha says, “You practically lived in his apartment”

Natasha and Jane both nod and Bucky repeats they were “kind of” friends, which causes an argument between the three. Darcy simply shrugs when Tony throws a questioning glance. Thor looks amused by the situation, continuing to eat without being bothered. Tony sighs.

“Am I missing something?” Sam asks him.

“You and me pal” He says, taking sip from his wine.

“Hey guys!” Darcy yells, the three of them look at her, “So you know a lawyer, good”

Natasha nods, “Matt Murdock was-“

“Matt was my… we knew each other before I joined the army” Bucky says.

It was the first time Tony heard him say something about his private life. The man looked uncomfortable, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was talking about his life or the mention of the army, is when Tony notices Bucky’s left hand twitch nervously that he realises is both.

“I heard he worked pro-bono, he’s got his own firm” Jane continues. 

“Well, I haven’t heard of him from years” Bucky takes a sip from the wine bottle.

Natasha sighs, “Can you contact him?” She asks Jane.

Jane nods, “Sure”

“Do you think he could help? I mean, what kind of lawyer is he, because-“

“I’ll call him right now!” Jane stands up and leaves the apartment.

“Sounds like our problem might be solved” Tony elbows Darcy, who smiles and nods.

Jane comes back a few minutes later and tells him that Matt Murdock agreed to meet as soon as they wanted. He notices Bucky tenses and then, after a drowning what’s left of wine in the bottle he had in his hands, he stands up and leaves after kissing the top of Darcy’s head and offering a nod to Tony. Later, while Darcy and Jane talked about the baby and Sam and Thor did the dishes, Tony sits on the table with Natasha, who is drinking the remaining of the wine bottle Bucky had left.

“Is… everything alright with Bucky?” Tony asks Natasha quietly.

Natasha looks at him, “He’ll be fine”

Tony nods, but he doesn’t believe her. She passes him the bottle and he thanks her for saving the last sip, even though Tony didn’t feel like drinking much, then Natasha smiles softly at him and elbows him before throwing a glance to Darcy, who remained on the couch changing the channels.

“You and Darcy have been spending a lot of time together these weeks” She mentions casually. 

He nods. He had taken Steve’s advice to try and start something with Darcy. he wasn’t even sure that’s what Steve had meant, but it seem like the logic step for both of them – they had already started in a weird order, the whole being a parent thing that is – but he hadn’t discuss it with Darcy, not precisely, he wanted everything to feel organically, if they were going to end up together, then it shouldn’t be or feel forced. He blinks when he realises Natasha is staring at him, calculating gaze on him before she shrugs. 

“I thought you, um, liked guys” She adds. 

Tony barks out a laugh, he isn’t sure where it comes from but it might be the wine in his system.

“I mean, back then when we, me and Darcy first saw you” Natasha explains, laughing and punching his shoulder softly, “I saw you with a guy before you disappeared with Darcy”

Tony nods, ”I see” he clears his throat, “I’m bi”

Natasha hums, “Cool” she then frowns slightly, “I also heard you were engaged… before” He swallows and nods tighly, “Was is Pepper?" 

He turns to her, “How do you know-“

“Darcy and Jane met her?” she chuckles, “Glad to know you are still friends”

“Me too” he leans back on the couch, “We were friends before anything, our parents were the ones who insisted on the marriage and well… it’s how our lives are suppose to be” he chuckles, “Were, how they were suppose to be”

“Is now better?” The redhead leans next to him.

“I think so” He answers honestly and is relieved when the redhead smiles softly.

“What are you two whispering about?”

They both look up to find Darcy looking at them with a raised eyebrow. Natasha stands and kisses her cheek at the same time Darcy sits next to Tony.

“I was explaining Tony what was going on with me, Clint and Sam” she winks at him.

Darcy snorts, “I was wondering why hadn’t he asked about that”

“Nat” Sam calls her from the door, “Clint forgot his key, I’m going down”

“Coming, babe” Natasha says, she turns to the couch, “Dinner was amazing, thanks for having us” she leans in to kiss Darcy again and then Tony, “Next week is out treat”

“You better” Darcy says.

After Natasha and Sam leave – with some leftovers for Clint – Jane and Thor follow, Jane had been working all day and was tired, Thor had to wake up early to go to class, they too take some leftovers and say goodbye. 

“So what exactly were you and Nat talking about?” Darcy asks him before he disappears in his room.

Tony stops with his hand on the doorknob. He turns and shrugs, smiling when Darcy snorts and rolls her eyes.

“She asked me if I was better now” He says finally.

Darcy blinks, pursing her lips, “Are you?”

He nods, “I am”

And it’s the truth.

 

* * *

 

He tells Bruce about it as soon as he arrives to the laboratory the next day. Bruce, who looks more tense than he had seen him the time they’ve known eachother, simply nods as Tony explains him all that had happened during and after dinner, even what Pepper had told him about the lawyer and Jane getting him one who didn’t chickened out. Bruce listens as he talks until Tony notices he checks his phone for the third time since he started talking.

“Am I boring you, babe?” Tony says jokingly.

Bruce chuckles, “Sorry, I’m waiting for a call”

Tony nods, “What about? Or rather who?” he asks, “If I may know” He adds quickly. 

“Um… It’s my birthday today and-”

Tony gasps, “How come I didn’t know?”

“-Betty is in Berlin and she said she would call me but with the different time zones…” he finishes, “I forgot to tell you” he smiles softly.

“Oh, so you’re waiting some sexy talk over the phone” Tony wiggles his eyebrows.

Bruce laughs and he shakes his head, “Let’s get to work”

It’s almost ten when Bruce tells him he can leave, Tony nods and starts gathering his supplies when he remembers Bruce lives alone, he had never heard him mention his family, his girlfriend was away it was his birthday. The poor man was probably going to spend it alone.

“Ok, no, wait, wait, wait” He puts a hand on Bruce’s shoulder, he turns and raises an eyebrow, “We are going out”

“We are?”

“It’s your birthday! You are turning- How old are you?”

Bruce chuckles, “Thirty four”

“Thrity- Holy shit you’re old” Tony says making Bruce laugh, “Let’s go out! To drink and-“

“A few drinks don’t sound bad”

Tony smiles widely.

 

* * *

 

 

Bruce turns slowly towards Tony and blinks several times when the man grins at him. He had done a quick search for the best night club on his phone, it include pretty much only that it was near them, without telling Bruce exactly where they were going for drinks.

“This is so not what I had in mind” Bruce says, “I thought we were going to a bar”

“Oh, come on, it’s just a club” Tony shrugs.

He throws an arm around Bruce’s shoulder and smiles widely – a Tony Stark trademark smile – as they both enter a building with bright neon lights that read “Triskelion”. Bruce looks tense but he smiles nervously at Tony as they cross the street to get to the entrance.

“This looks like a very fancy club” Bruce says.

Tony snorts, “You don’t have to dance or anything”

Bruce sighs heavily, arranging his tie, “This is really really fancy” he repeats.

“And why is that a bad thing? You look fine” Tony slaps Bruce’s hand away from his tie.

“We could still go to a bar” Bruce tries again, sounding exasperated.

Tony sighs heavily and ignored him as he looks around. The club inside looks like every other club he’s being in, which meant the club was indeed a “fancy” one as Bruce puts it. He remembers he had his card with him – the only one that worked – and he could spend a little more, besides it was Bruce’s birthday.

“It’s your birthday, man, have some fun?”

Bruce looks at him and nods, smiling slightly.

“Alright, alright”

Tony smiles widely as they both make their way to the bar. They had left their suitcases in the laboratory so they didn’t have to worry about important paper work going missing. Bruce had checked his phone on their way there but he hadn’t since they entered the club.

“Tony?”

Tony looks at the bartender, “Clint” he says.

“Hey, man” Clint smiles.

Clint is wearing tight black leather pants, a suit vest and some eyeliner, he can see glitter in his hair, chest and a little bit on his face. Tony stares dumbly at the man as he pours them something in small glasses in front of them.

“Shots” Clint tells Bruce, who accepts them gladly.

“What are you doing here?” Tony asks him.

Clint snorts, “Working. Obviously” he then raises an eyebrow, “What are you doing here?” He glances at Bruce.

Tony looks at Bruce, “This is my boss… Um- We are friends, celebrating his birthday" 

“Nice” Clint smiles at Bruce, “So you tend to bring your friends to strip clubs on they birthday?" 

Tony almost spills his drink, “Wh- what?”

Bruce snorts, “I was trying to tell you” Clint laughs.

“And it’s ladies night tonight” Clint adds snorting, “That’s on the house” he winks, he smiles at Tony and leaves. 

“He seems nice” Bruce mentions, taking a sip from his drink.

“Yeah, that’s Clint” Tony says, drowning his in a second, Bruce makes a face, “He’s Nat's boyfriend" He then adds, "And also Sam’s boyfriend”

Bruce chuckles, “How… Interesting”

They fall into a conversation about nothing, while Clint keeps pouring them drinks that Tony really hopes are “on the house”. He doesn’t realise how much he had drank until he looks at the table and sees over a dozen empty shot glasses, Bruce seems to be holding up better than him, at least he thinks that until the man tries cleaning his glasses with the hem of his shirt dropping them by mistake and then bursting into a fit of laughs.

“Let me help, handsome”

Clint chuckles picking the glasses up and placing them in Bruce’s hands. Tony notices Clint is no longer wearing his uniform and mentions it, the blond explains his shift is over and he is heading home.

“You guys good?” He asks, Bruce nods frantically making him laugh, “Happy birthday, man”

“Thanks” Bruce says, looking all sobered up already, “and for the drinks” he adds.

“He can definitely hold his alcohol better than you” Clint tells Tony, slapping his shoulder a bit too hard, “Show’s about to start” he says looking around, and Tony realises the lights had been dimmed, “Have fun” he sing songs.

And with that he leaves. Tony tries following him with his eyes but the crowd that had started gathering made it impossible for him to do so. The announcer says something about a Captain and that’s when Bruce taps his shoulder, gesturing his phone with a big smile on his face, he assumes Betty had called and when Bruce points at the bathrooms he nods. He nurses what’s left of his drink and then Bruce’s looking at the stage distracted.

That’s when he sees him. Dressed as some kind of army general, moving on the stage graciously as the women in the crowd go mad. 

“Steve?”

“Darcy’s Steve?” Bruce says behind him.

He nods dumbly, at the same time Steve’s eyes somehow find him and the blond freezes on stage before resuming his... Undressing.

 

* * *

 

 

He waits until the club is almost empty. Bruce had been sitting with him for almost two hours before he tells him he has to leave, he offers Tony to share a cab since he had already called one and Tony declines. Bruce pays for his drinks despite Tony refusing a few times and they part ways. He thinks about leaving, not knowing why is he waiting for Steve in the first place, when someone taps his shoulder. He turns to find the blond behind him. 

“He- hey, Steve” he stammers, leaving the glass he had in his hands on the bar.

“You still here” Steve says, “Where’s your friend?”

Tony shrugs, “Bruce, um- he left, his girlfriend was calling… Or something”

Steve nods, eyes narrowed, “What are you doing here then” 

Right. Good question.

“I… I don’t know” he chuckles nervously.

“Do you wanna carpool?” Steve asks.

“Huh?”

“We are going to the same place, we could grab a cab together”

He agrees.

The ride is quiet, but not so uncomfortable. Once they arrive to the building, Steve offers to pay and Tony has to bite his tongue to not say a bad taste joke about the dollar bills Steve pays the driver with, it would be only a joke, Tony isn’t one to judge but he felt the… Relationship with Steve was still fragile, so walking on eggshells was the way to go with him. Steve makes small talk on the elevator, asking Tony about Bruce and what exactly he did for a living and once they reach their floor Steve turns serious again.

“Tony…” Steve says, “Listen, the guys… they don’t know- they think I work somewhere else”

Tony nods, “I understand” he zips his mouth .

Steve chuckles softly, “Thanks”

“Listen, Steve”

The blond turns to him, “Yeah?” he asks, a strange glint in his eyes.

“I wanted to thank you” Tony starts, “For the talk the other day” Steve frowns, “About giving a chance to… Darcy and I" Tony takes a breath, " Us being a couple”

Steve frowns deepens, “I didn’t say-“ he stops himself, a strange look on his face Tony can’t read, because he’s closing off on him somehow, “So you are a couple now?”

Tony blinks, “No, no, I mean, not yet” he scratches his beard nervously.

“I see” The blond nods and turns to his door, reaching for his keys.

“Are you okay?” Tony puts a hand on his shoulder.

Steve stills and then turns to him, “I just want Darcy to be happy” he says suddenly, “And if being with you is what makes her happy, that’s good” his smile is kind of strained.

Tony nods, frowning slightly. 

“I’m knackered” Steve says, and he does look very tired Tony thinks, the blond clears his throat, “See you later”

“Alright” Tony nods, “Sure”

Steve hums and nods before he enters his apartment and closes the door behind him. Tony stands infront of Steve and Bucky’s apartment for a few seconds, he feels a strange urge to knock on the door and ask if he had said something or done something wrong. Instead he turns and walks towards his apartment, locking the door softly trying not to wake Darcy, he throws himself on the bed without bothering to change his clothes since he could feel a headache coming. He wanted to focus on what the lawyer would tell him in the morning or what would he say, he wanted to call Bruce and ask if he had gotten home alright, but all he could do was think about Steve Rogers and his secrets, because he could tell there was more than one. What a strange man Steve Rogers was.


	5. The One With The Date

Thank god it was saturday. That’s what first Tony registers as he wakes up, the second thing is the massive headache that comes in hand with the hangover. He didn’t even remember drinking that much, he remembers there were a lot of glasses on the bar and Bruce had drank of them, at least that’s what he can remember since he lost count after the fifth drink. Maybe he had been the one who drank the most. 

He moves towards the small nightstand next to his bed and reaches for his phone, that had started buzzing seconds ago. Bruce had sent him three messages, one complaining about his headache, the second about him arriving home safely and the last one thanking him. Tony smiles and replies with a simple smiley face. He notices there is a glass of water and an aspirin next to his digital clock and a sticky note that says “Party hard much?”, he knows it from Darcy. His phone chirps again making his head pound, but this time is from Matt Murdock, who tells him he is arriving a bit earlier than usual and he’s about to reply when there’s a knock in the door, loud enough to be heard from his room. There’s movement outside, Darcy opening the door and greeting Matt Murdock, then closing the door behind them and walking towards Tony’s room.

“Hey, Tones”

Darcy opens the door slowly, she has this thing about not knocking before entering someone’s room but he doesn’t say anything.

“I’m coming” He mumbles and Darcy leaves. 

Darcy entertains the lawyer for about ten minutes while Tony bathes and tries to calm his migraine – he uses several pills for that – he looks for the papers Pepper had told him were necessary before finally joining them in the living room. He feels nervous and wishes Pepper was in the room with him, shaking the childish thought away he offers them a smile.

“Morning, sleepyhead” Darcy says.

“Morning” he kisses the top of her head as she walks towards the kitchen with two empty glasses in her hands. 

Matt Murdock – taller than him, dark hair, dark shades and a very nice suit – stands and offers his hand. 

“Matt Murdock”

“Tony Stark”

Tony shakes it nervously, his eyes moving towards Darcy, who is pouring herself more apple juice. She glances at the couch where Matt is sitting and Tony frowns, not really understanding, until he sees Murdock’s suitcase and the cane next to it. He looks at the man’s face and realises his shades are dark because he is in fact blind. He swallows.

“May I have my hand back?” Matt says.

“Um?” Tony blinks, he lets go of the man’s hand, “Sorry, yeah, let’s- let’s sit”

Matt nods and takes a seat again.

“Darcy was explaining your situation” Matt starts, “Vaguely” he then adds and they hear Darcy chuckling.

“Yeah, I-“ he looks at the papers in his lap, “I had some papers…” he trails off. 

Matt blinks. He remembers Pepper calling him the night before, or maybe leaving a message he can’t remember, maybe she would remind him if she was there. A knock on the door makes him jump and Darcy walks hurriedly towards the door.

“I got it!” She says opening the door.

Pepper Potts is like a sight for sore eyes, wishful thinking had her walking through the door with a bright smile on her lips. She hugs Darcy and kisses Tony’s cheek, moving towards Matt Murdock, who had been standing up awkwardly for a few seconds until Pepper introduces herself and hands him a big yellow envelop.

“Everything you need is there” Pepper says, she looks out of breath, like she had been running, “I came as fast as I could” 

She then explains Tony that Darcy had called her to tell her about them getting Matt as a lawyer – he doesn’t ask how did she get her number but it’s obvious Pepper had given it to her the last time she had been at the apartment – and explained him that he was blind and needed the documents in braille. How Pepper managed to get them all in braille in less that three days he doesn’t ask, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t impressed. Or extremely grateful. 

“And what is this?” 

Pepper walks towards the painting hanging on the wall opposite to them. Yes, the naked Darcy one. Darcy smiles proudly.

“Steve made it for me”

Pepper raises her eyebrows and Tony knows the look in her eyes. She always had a weakness for art – He can remember the many times she dragged him to museums and art galas he found dull but always attended and pretended to enjoy because of her. Darcy and Pepper fall into a conversation about art, Darcy is also an art junkie apparently and he can’t help but imagine her dragging him to museums and boring art galas like Pepper did, at least he is good at faking interest.

“Mr. Stark”

he turns to Matt, “Tony’s fine”

Matt nods, “There’s a lot of here we can work with” his smile is reassuring.

Tony sits next to him and reaches for the papers – the ones Pepper had given him a week before – and reads through them for a few minutes until Matt clears his throat. He raises a questioning eyebrow before remembering the other man can’t see it.

“So…” Matt starts, “How long have you and Darcy being married?”

Tony snorts, “We aren’t” he says, Matt tilts his head, “We um- it’s complicated”

 

It really wasn’t. They met at a party, had sex and she ended up pregnant. A surprising turn of events, but he couldn’t really thing of the pregnancy as unwanted, not anymore. He glances at Pepper and Darcy who are still conversing in the kitchen.

 

“Are you… Are you planning to?” Matt continues, “Get married?” 

Tony considers it for a second, “Why?”

Matt licks his lips, “If I’m honest” he says, “It would make the whole… Process easier” 

Tony swallows not knowing what to say. The door opens suddenly and a laughing Natasha enters followed by Clint, Jane and Thor, who is carrying a bag with a three quarts of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Darcy’s favorite. Natasha’s laugh dies down when Jane elbows her, nodding towards Matt, she clears her throat. Is Clint who breaks the silence.

“Who this?” He asks, he then sees Pepper, “And who’s that?”

“Don’t be rude, babe” Natasha says as they all enter, “Well, hello” The redhead closes the door behind her, “Didn’t know you had company”

“Yeah, this is-“

“Matt Murdock” Natasha finishes, taking his hand and shaking it, “I remember you” she smirks. 

A small smile tugs one side of Matt’s lips. Jane does the same as Natasha (minus the smirk) and so does Clint, then Thor introduces himself and shakes the man’s hand, a bit too enthusiastically – like everything else Thor does – and offers the man a wide, bright smile as he runs a hand through his long blond hair. Darcy told her that sometimes it bothered her how “sickeningly gorgeous” Thor was, and Tony understood her. 

“Who’s the boss lady?” Clint asks Pepper.

She smiles, “I’m Pepper Potts, Tony’s friend”

“Nice to meet you” Clint shakes her hand, “You a lawyer too?”

Pepper shakes her head. She is about to say something when her phone rings.

“Sorry” She says, reaching for it in her bag, “Crap, I forgot I had a meeting”

Tony pouts his lips, “You have to go?”

Pepper nods, kissing his cheek, “I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah?” Tony nods, “Nice meeting you guys” She shakes Clint and Matt’s hand, “Darcy I’ll email you about that gala”

“Awesome” Darcy kisses her cheek.

“Nice seeing you again” Pepper says.

With that she leaves. Clint whistles as he closes the door after her and Natasha slaps his shoulder.

“What can I say, redheads are my weakness” he pouts, rubbing his shoulder.

Natasha rolls her eyes and Jane snorts. The petite woman then turns to Matt.

“So Matt” she says, “How long has it been? Three, four years?”

“Six” Matt says. “I heard you are engaged, congratulations” he smiles at Jane, “ Thor was always the perfect man for you”

“And Jane was always the one for me” Thor adds.

Jane blushes and Thor kisses the top of her head, “Thanks” She giggles like a child. 

Tony hears Natasha and Darcy groan. Clint then reaches for the cupboard and brings back a giant glass jar filled with dollar bills and pennies, he wiggles it infront of Thor and the man rolls his eyes, a small smile on his lips as he pulls out his wallet and puts a dollar inside.

“Thor’s ‘cheesy’ jar” Darcy explains him.

Tony chuckles softly, “How come I hadn’t seen it before?”

“Jane thought she was being clever hiding it in their ‘love nest’ when she moved” Clint says, hugging the jar, “But we found it” He kisses Natasha’s hand.

Jane makes a face, “Is bad enough I know you had sex in my apartment, no need to remind me of it!” she whines.

Clint and Natasha share winks and Thor shakes his head softly. 

“Tu love nest es mi love nest” Clint sing songs.

“We have guests!” Jane reminds him, punching his shoulder and nodding towards Matt.

“Good to see you are still close” Matt simply says.

The man excuses himself a few minutes later and tells Tony he and his business partner are going to revise the papers, he tells him he’ll call as soon as he hears something and then leaves. While they eat the ice cream Thor bought, Natasha tells Clint about Matt and Bucky’s college days, Matt was a few years older than Bucky and helped him while he went through a “sexual identity crisis”, after Bucky’s mother died he dropped out of college and then enlisted.

“Matt asked about Bucky often and I think they sent letters to each other or something” Darcy adds, “But when Bucky came back, after all the surgeries and the therapy, he never mentioned him again” 

“Bucky was never the same either” Natasha adds, “He became so quiet, closed off”

“But we have him back now, right?” Jane says, “He still our Bucky” Clint and Natasha smile before nodding. 

“He’s just not Matt’s Bucky” Thor adds. 

A loud sob fills the room. They all turn to Darcy, who is a sobbing, crying mess as she takes a spoonful of ice cream to her mouth. Tony understood she was crying because of all the hormones and stuff, but he couldn’t help but think about her snot getting to the ice cream, which Clint mentions to Natasha before the woman hushes him. 

“They were so in love!” Darcy says. 

Natasha chuckles softly, throwing her arms around her friend, “There, there” 

“She’s crying on the ice cream” Clint whispers to Jane, reaching for it, “Ouch!” he purses his lips when Jane kicks him under the table. 

Once again, Tony felt as if he was invading a private moment. Thor offers them more ice cream and Clint cheers, changing he heavy atmosphere that had fallen upon them, Natasha and Jane follow them towards the fridge with a spoon in their hands. Still, he can’t help but think he isn’t suppose to be there, until Darcy rubs his shoulder and he looks at her, she’s offering him a small smile. Her blue red-rimmed eyes, looking at him warmly.

“It’s funny how you were kind of part of our family even before you were part of our family” She says.

He frowns. Not really understanding. Darcy rolls her eyes, a smile tugging her lips.

“Bucky felt… incomplete without his arm” She explains, “Then SI helped”

Tony swallows. 

Darcy then chuckles nervously, “It sounds like a stretch yeah, maybe even dumb but-“

He didn’t know what came over him, but in a split of a second he is pressing his lips over Darcy’s. A soft kiss that ends before it really even starts. Darcy blinks several times and Tony pulls back with a nervous chuckle. 

And when Natasha calls them, they both walk towards the fridge in silence.

 

* * *

 

Tony had never really loved anyone like he loved Pepper. Yeah, he loved his parents before and Rhodey afterwards, but Virginia “Pepper” Potts was the only one who was there still. The first time he tried to kiss Pepper they had been sixteen and it was Pepper’s birthday party, it had been awkward since she moved away before he could do it and slapped him, saying he was suppose to take her on a date first.

That night as Tony laid on his bed thinking about that for some reason. He remembers telling the story countless of times during family reunions and meetings to charm people – it worked better when Pepper told it though – he also remembers that’s how him and Rhodey became friends. It sound strange but the two things are connected. Pepper and Tony were at a college party, Pepper was telling some girls from the sorority house she wanted to be part of – because her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother had been part of it – when they asked them to recreate it, they did and apparently Pepper’s outburst seemed too real, because Rhodey, always a hero, jumped in and punched Tony in the face before Pepper could fake-slap him. Long story short, they ended up in the ER because of Tony’s nose and Pepper had to explain Rhodey (and Howard) what had happened. They started hanging out afterwards and became friends, they remained friends even after Rhodey enlisted, despite being complete opposites, while Rhodey was disciplined, Tony was rebellious, Rhodey liked order whereas Tony seemed to crave chaos.

Because of that, he finds himself dialling Rhodey’s number instead of Pepper’s. And thinks about hanging up and leaving a voicemail before Rhodey answers.

“Colonel Rhodes” He says.

Tony can’t help but chuckle, “Douchebag Stark” he says.

There is silence in the other line and Tony drums his fingers in his tight nervously.

“Mister Howard how may I help?" 

And Tony laughs relieved.

Rhodey chuckles, “How are you Tony?”

They talk for about half an hour about their lives. Tony tells him he has a new job – his reaction being the same as Pepper’s – Rhodey tells him he got a raise and when Tony is about to say things are well with him and Darcy, Rhodey apologizes, thing that Tony was about to do too. And just like that, things are mended between them. It was always like that with Rhodey, it helped that the man was more mature than Tony was and will ever be. At least he thought that.

“So how’s…” Rhodey trails off.

“Darcy” Tony says chuckling. 

“Darcy, right, sorry” the man chuckles nervously, “How’s everything”

“Good” Tony says, “Things are good” he smiles.

His smiles falls when he remembers the awkward kiss. He takes a deep breath and tells Rhodey what had happened, or at least what he thought had happened. 

“So… What should I do next?” Tony asks, and when Rhodey doesn’t answers he adds, “Or should I call Pepper for advise?”

Rhodey chuckles, “Well… She did give you advice on that once” Tony frowns, “You had to ask her out on a date first” Rhodey says and then laughs, “Just don’t overdo it”

And just like that, Tony finds himself knocking on Darcy’s door, telling her they are having dinner the next day. She smiles and offers him a nod, before he leaves to his room and falls heavy into the bed, drifting to sleep with a small, relieved smile on his face.

 

* * *

 

 

Matt Murdock calls him that morning, asking if they can meet for lunch. He doesn’t bother in waking Darcy since she looked tired the day before but he leaves a note letting her know where he was going to be and reminds her they are having dinner that night. He had never been in Hell’s Kitchen before, but it was far enough that he knew he was never going to come back, no offense to Murdock, but they meetings were going to be in the city now on. He arrives to the restaurant they agreed and sees Matt on the booth near the jukebox – how… old – he greets him with a handshake and both men sit. Matt explains him why they are there as Tony eats a piece of chocolate cake. When he finishes – Matt talking, not Tony eating – the man offers a sympathetic smile. 

Tony swallows, “So nothing is possible until my son’s born?” he says. 

“Not nothing” Matt shakes his head, “Everything has been revised, the inheritance, the entire state that was left-“ 

“The wh-!” Tony chokes on the cake.

“Are you alright?” Matt asks, eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Yeah, yeah, fine” Tony says, drinking some water, “You said state?”

Matt nods, “Sorry, I forgot” he runs his fingers through some papers and clears his throat, “My partner was suppose to send a list of your mother’s inheritance to you” he explains, “I can read this to you if you wish”

Tony licks his lips, “No, I’ll- Um- I’ll wait until I get home to check my mail” he says, “If I don’t find it, I call your… Partner” 

Matt nods. He had ordered nothing more than a small cup of cherry ice cream that was now almost melted. He eats it in silence with one hand while he runs his fingers – reads, Tony, he’s reading – throught the page next to him. He can’t help but wonder how does a blind man manages to look so calm, Matt moves and talks and acts like he’s aware of everything, like he knows where his life is going and how he’s doing. Like he knows more than any other person. More than Tony. He can’t help but wonder if Matt lived alone, if he had someone.

“So…” Tony says, “Your partner’s name is?” 

Matt smiles softly, “Franklin Nelson” he says.

“Ah” he nods and adds nonchalantly, “How long have you two being together” 

The other man looks stunned for a second before laughing. Tony joins him, chuckling awkwardly.

“When I say partners, I mean _business_ partners” Matt explains, “We are practically brothers” he adds.

“Shit, sorry”

Matt shakes his head, “It’s alright” he says, a small smile on his face.

“So, how does the whole… being blind thing works” Tony winces as the words leave his mouth, “I mean, how… Do you… do it?” he facepalms. 

Matt simply shrugs, “I’ve been blind most of my life” he says, “I never felt helpless if that’s what you are trying to say” he chuckles. 

“What about a... Partner partner?” Tony asks, “I mean, do you live with someone or…” 

“I manage on my own” He says, “There hasn’t… been anyone for a while” 

Tony hums. Matt licks his lips and leans into his elbows on the table. 

“I- Yesterday, I was going to ask about… James” Matt says quietly, “How is he… or if he still around” he swallows. 

“James?” Tony frowns, “Ah, Bucky”

Matt’s lips curve upwards, “Yeah”

“He’s alright” Tony says. 

He feels his chest tighten at the way Matt’s unfocused eyes light up. Darcy was right about Matt and Bucky being in love, maybe Matt even still loved him. 

“Are you asking because I mentioned marriage yesterday?” Matt says after a few seconds, “Because I didn’t mean to-“

“No, no” Tony shakes his head, “I just… Just wondering about you in general” 

Matt’s lips curve upwards, “I understand” he says, “I’m afraid I’m not as interesting as you Mr. Stark” 

Tony chuckles.

“Yesterday you said it was ‘complicated’ between you and Darcy” Matt continues, “How is that?”

Tony takes a deep breath, and proceeds to tell Matt the whole story. He realises mid-telling him, that it would actually be a funny story to tell his son in the future.

 

* * *

 

“This is fancy” Darcy looks around. 

Tony chuckles, opening the chair for her. She smiles and takes a sit, following him with her eyes as he goes around the table and then sits, accepting the menu from the waiter. He shrugs the jacket he was wearing off, feeling it a bit tight. Pepper had managed to get him one of his old suits and when he remembers he wonders if he had gained weight. Then again, it could be his imagination, he’s nervous for some reason, like he was every time he had to do a presentation at SI or even back in college. He looks at Darcy before going back to his menu.

“You um- look nice” Tony says.

“Thank you” Darcy smiles, “You too” 

The waiter comes back and is about to take Tony’s jacket away but he stops him, “Just- it’s fine here”

“Very well, sir”

When he takes their order her leaves and Darcy and Tony are left alone again. Tony doesn’t realise he’s tapping his fingers on the table nervously until Darcy covers his hand and squeezes. When he lifts his gaze, Darcy frowns.

“Are you alright?” Darcy asks, “You seem… Nervous” 

Tony nods, “I’m fine”

Darcy retrieves her hand and takes a sip of water before talking, “Listen, Tony, I want to talk to you about something” 

“Yeah, me too” Tony nods. 

Maria Stark, née Carbonell, met Howard Stark when she was on her last year of college and married him a year later. She always told Tony how her parents knew the Starks for a long time, before they decided that their children should marry. At first, Maria had considered Howard – who was a few years older than her – a family acquaintance, but after their convenience marriage, she had become a friend, and eventually she fell for him. Which is why that morning, Tony had gone to a jewellery store, and got Darcy the prettiest engagement ring he could afford. When Tony first met Darcy, he thought she would be nothing but a one night stand, but after all that happened he knew she was becoming a good friend. So maybe… They could end up just like his parents.

Wait, what?

Tony swallows, almost drilling a hole in his jacket, where inside the ring was. 

“I met someone” 

He looks at Darcy, “Huh?” he says dumbly.

Darcy looks at him apologetically, “I… I assumed you brought me here to talk about the kiss”

Tony nods. It was about the kiss, was it? 

“Listen, Tony, I… We are having a child together, and I know already that you are ready for that responsibility” Darcy says, “I don’t want you to feel like you have some responsibility with me other than co-parenting and being friends”

Tony frowns, “How do you mean?”

She chuckles, “We have spent enough time together these months to know we are compatible as nothing more than friends” 

It’s when Darcy says something that Pepper might had told him already, that Tony realises that Darcy wasn’t Maria Stark. Darcy wasn’t like any woman he had met before, not even Pepper who was amazing too. Neither woman who were meant to spend the rest of their lives with him, not even when one was carrying his child. He couldn’t put Darcy in that position because…

“I don’t love you” Tony says suddenly, and it feels like a heavy weight has been lifted off his shoulders, “I- I mean- I do love you, I’m just not _in_ love with you”

“Why do you sound like you are just realising it?” Darcy says, “Tony _I know_ ” she adds, “It’s just- After that… Weird kiss, I thought maybe we should leave that clear”

Tony nods, “I agree” he does, “I definitely, completely agree”

“Okay, whoa, let’s not get too excited about not being in love with me” Darcy jokes, Tony chuckles and she returns it with a smile, “I’m sorry I blurted it out like that” she says, “the whole me meeting someone”

Tony looks at her, “Tell me about that”

Darcy goes dream eyed. His name is Scott Lang, he’s 32 and has a daughter who is five and Darcy hadn’t met, he works at Pym Industries – He can’t wait to tell Pepper that, she is going to flip – and he and Darcy met at the deli a few blocks from their building. Tony listens to Darcy talk animately about Scott Lang and, despite feeling a bit like a fool, he can’t help but feel happy about her. And also relieved.

“Which one do you like more?”

“About what?”

Darcy rolls her eyes, “Baby name for the baby” she repeats, “I was thinking Bryson, or maybe Slate” Tony winces making her laugh, “What? What’s wrong with Bryson?”

“Your father’s name is Bryson?”

“Yup” Darcy nods, “Bryson James Lewis”

“James” Tony smiles, “Like Rhodey”

“And Bucky” Darcy nods, “Dude! We can totally name him that!” 

“Bucky?” Tony asks.

“James! Your friend and my friend, it’s perfect” Darcy smiles widely, she looks at her belly, “I think he likes it”

Tony reaches for her unconsciously, and is about to apologise when Darcy grabs his hand. 

He smiles, “I like James” 

Darcy’s smile widens, “James” 

 

* * *

 

 

Despite the diner being nothing like he had planned it to be, it had been a success. They came up with a name for their child and he couldn’t wait to call Pepper and Rhodey to tell them. When they finally reach their apartment floor, they see their friends standing outside Jane and Thor’s apartment. Darcy and Tony exchange looks, before Tony clears his throat and they all turn to them.

Darcy frowns, “What’s going-“

“Shh!” Natasha tip toes towards them with a finger lift up to her lips, “It’s Bucky" 

Tony is about to ask if something happened when a noise comes from the other side of the door. It’s recognisable, not because he knows Bucky but because he knows how a moan sounds like.

“No way!” Darcy exclaims in a hush, moving towards the door, she turns to Tony, “It’s Bucky _and_ Matt!”

The group starts cheering like they are in a silent movie, jumping up and down and high-fiving but nothing comes out of their mouths. Tony chuckles, and reaches inside his pocket for the keys. When he pulls them out, the small velvet box with the ring he had meant to give to Darcy falls on the floor. It’s Steve who reaches for it, staring at it for a few seconds, before Tony takes it from his hands.

Steve looks at Tony, “Did-" 

“No” Tony shakes his head, “It’s fine” he adds.

And the blond’s lips quirk, like he is trying not to smile too hard. Before Tony can ask, the door from Jane and Thor’s apartment opens, and Matt – no tie, shirt poorly arranged and no suit jacket – stands frozen. Behind him Bucky holds the door, wearing nothing but sweatpants, and when he sees his friends, he groans loudly and runs a hand through his face and hair, while they all let out their laughs. 

“But why in our apartment?” Thos asks Jane.

Natasha is the one who answers with a giggle, “You are suppose to christen your house for good luck” she wiggles her eyebrows. 

“Us! Not _all_ of you!” Jane whines. 

This time, Tony joins them while they laugh.


	6. The One With The Wedding Planner

 

**THREE MONTHS LATER…**

Pepper yawns on the other side of the line, which means that once again he had let his mouth run and it was probably too late.

He wishes her a goodnight and finally hangs up – Pepper sighs relieved – when he looks at the blinking clock on his desk he realises he had been on the phone for about three hours. Pepper had only called to invite him out for drinks, saying she really needed a distraction from everything. They ended up talking about the case for the third time that week instead, she told him that people was starting to gossip about it despite them doing their best to keep low profile to avoid it being on the press. Tony didn't care, but Matt had made a good point about it being too risky, his father's lawyers were already trying to make it look bad. Tony would look bitter and Darcy like a golddigger (Matt's words, not his) and he didn't need the attention either, with his work becoming increasingly overwhelming, and Darcy becoming more difficult to deal with now that she is her third trimester - he felt terrible admitting it but oh well a he was sure he couldn't handle anything else. 

Also, Tony was having a hard time sleeping lately.

Darcy had reached that part of the pregnancy where she is no longer glowing and feeling the beauty of life growing inside of her (Jane’s words not his), but instead complained about sore back and itchy breasts, how her hips and tights were ‘ _huge_ ’ and her hair kept falling – Thor made the mistake to joke about how early balding probably ran on the family and for that he was banned from their apartment until further notice – but worst of all, yes worse than the _often complaints_ , she kept having cravings at random hours, specially late at nights for some reason, like their kid was going to be some nocturnal beast who only fed from Nutella and pickles, a combination that made everyone nauseous but the woman who felt nauseous about pretty much everything else.

He was lucky enough that all their friends (yes, their friends, at that he often felt proud of) were willing to help with that.

Natasha often arrived with comfortable pillows and soft blankets for her, Clint and Sam were the experts in massages – Sam made a weird joke about Clint’s foot fetiche which did get a laugh from Darcy unlike poor Thor’s joke – Bucky always stayed and binge watch reruns of their favorite shows on Netflix. Jane wasn’t able to pamper her as much as they all know she would like because of her work, and her own wedding planning, but she texted Darcy every hour or so no matter what. Finally there was Steve… Steve was the one who often made the midnight runs to the seven eleven nearby to get Darcy anything she _thought_  she needed. He also made sure to get a cup of coffee for Tony if he found him in his room working late, which he did a lot since Bruce and him were on the verge of a breakthrough and it was impossible for him to leave work at the office (as much as Bruce insisted). Besides, with the baby coming, he really wanted to be more settled financially.

Matt Murdock came and went with information on his case, actual information not gossip about it. So far, it had been kept secret by both ends, since it wouldn’t reflect good on Stark Industies (like he gave a fuck about that) or on Tony himself (at least that what Pepper told him). He kept details about it from Darcy, which he felt bad for, but he didn’t want to put any stress on her. Rhodey didn’t visit him as often as Pepper did, or as often as he would like him to because of his job and he understood that, they were on good terms anyways. He hadn’t introduced him to Darcy officially, and even though him and Darcy were not going to become an item, he would like for his friends to be close to her like he was with Darcy’s gang. 

As soon as his head hit the pillow his phone goes off. He groans into the pillow – more like lets out a whine – and then forces himself to leave the bed, but as soon as he unlocks his phone he gets a call. He stares at Steve's name on the screen and answers, yawning a hello. 

" _Don't stand from the bed, I got it_ " Steve says immediately.

Tony throws himself on the bed again, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, _thank you_ " 

Steve chuckles, " _She texted the group chat, so everyone got it_ " 

He hears outside the apartment's door is being unlocked. Steve doesn't hang up though, jiggling his keys a few times before he opens. 

"I was up anyways" Tony says to the phone.

He imagines Steve make that face he makes whenever he finds Tony awake after everyone had gone to sleep. A small wince, sorry eyes and an apologetic smile.

" _Working late again?_ "

The voice comes from both the phone and outside his room. And he hears Steve walking outside. 

"Yeah" Tony yawns, "Also, Pepper called again, she's worried she'll have to do damage control if this gets out" 

" _On your behalf?_ "

Tony snorts softly, "Stark Industry's" He lays on the bed staring at the ceiling, "She doesn't want to do my father's 'dirty job' or something" 

" _But it_ is _her job_ " Steve finishes, Tony hums, " _She knows you wouldn't... Hold it against her" he then adds, "Or something_ "

"I wouldn't" Tony says quietly. 

The line goes quiet.

And he hears Steve knock on Darcy's door, which is the room across from his. Steve puts the phone away so Tony can only hear muffled sounds, Steve and Darcy have a hushed conversation. He does hear Darcy thank Steve for the crushed ice seconds later – Their air conditioner had broken down a few nights ago and they hadn't been able to replace it – and the pillow and Steve kisses her goodnight. After that he closes Darcy's door. Most of the times is Steve who takes care of Darcy because his job, which Tony only knew about.

" _She has like three fans and complains about the heat_ " The blond chuckles.

"Mm, she took mine last night" Tony scratches his beard, "Well, she had Jane take it" 

He hears Steve chuckle, both on the other line and outside his door. He then hears as Steve walks away, like he thought about saying goodbye in person but changed his mind for some reason. He runs a hand through his jaw and wonders if he should shave soon.

"Thanks for bringing the stuff" 

" _No problem_ "

The apartment door's closes.

"You're going to work?"

Steve stays quiet for a few seconds, as he walks the halls towards the stairs, " _Yeah_ " he says finally, and Tony can hear the echo of the narrow walls, " _My second job that is_ " he adds when Tony doesn’t ask what that is, " _Security guard_ "

"Ah" Tony says, "Isn't that too dangerous?" 

" _Nah... Nights are pretty slow_ " he answers, " _Stripping is more tiring_ " 

Tony hums. They hadn't really talk about Steve's... Profession, although he knew that art was his real passion, and it never came up casually in their conversations. Steve chuckles on the other side of the line, breathless because of the stairs, and Tony raises an eyebrow.

" _Did you fall asleep?_ " 

"No" 

"Did that make you uncomfortable?"

" _…No_ "

It really didn’t. He wants to ask why would it, but then Steve talks again. 

" _I told Bucky_ " Steve says, " _Well, he asked me and I had to tell him where the glitter and sequinned underwear came from_ " 

Tony does laugh soflty this time. He imagines Bucky's expression as Steve revealed what he did for a living most nights. Bucky, who was the most protective of all of them and also the most serious one – Tony still didn’t know how to start a conversation with him most of the times – probably gave Steve some kind of shovel talk about it. Steve doesn’t elaborate, and when Tony hears a car honking he asks Steve where is he.

" _Subway_ " Steve says, “ _Almost_ ” 

"I don't get why don't you Uber"

Steve chuckles, " _Too expensive_ " Tony does too, " _See you tomorrow, Tony_ " 

"Goodnight" Tony says.

He hangs up and stares at the screen for a few seconds, before he goes throws his phone away and finally lays down to sleep.

 

* * *

 

“Please, please, Jane! I beg of you!” Darcy says, holding her hands in prayer. 

Jane rolls her eyes and Clint snorts, shoving more Pringles into his mouth. With Jane and Thor’s wedding coming up – Not really, since they were still stuck on the invites – Jane had recruited the help of Darcy, the maid of honor, but they always ended up arguing, which was time consuming and counterproductive in Tony’s opinion. Right now, Darcy wanted to invite Leona’s ex husband and her new boyfriend, _and_ also her father, which Jane opposed saying she knew Leona would not have it. 

“You just want drama, Darcy” Clint sing songs.

“Hush!” Darcy slaps the back of his head.

Tony chuckles from the kitchen table, and then continues to type numbers in his computer. Jane, Darcy and Clint had been hanging in the living room for about two hours now, and all they had done was set two tables and finished up two cans of Pringles. He glances at Jane as he hears Clint and Darcy banter like children. The woman runs a hand through his hair and face, groaning softly before she leans back on the couch tapping her fingers on her knees. Like him, she was a woman of science and Tony had heard that she was going to receive some kind of award for her work at the end of the year, she had even been in a talk show to talk about it and he found a picture of her and Stephen _freaking_ Hawkins online having brunch. And like him, she overworked herself, staying up late nights, skipping meals, and neglecting her personal life. Well, that last part was only him, since Jane was lucky enough to have Thor, Bruce had Betty. 

He had Pepper to take care of him like that once.

“Pepper”

Something inside his brain clicks.

“Pepper!” He exclaims.

Darcy and Clint are still arguing, but Jane turns to him.

“What was that?” she then hushes Darcy and Clint, “Children, please!”

Both of them pout their lips but remain quiet – Darcy throws a pillow at Clint and narrows her eyes at him – Tony looks at them apologetically as he makes his way to them. Clint and Jane are sitting on the carpeted floor while Darcy rests on the couch, there is a map of the venue where Thor and Jane’s wedding is going to be, a seating chart, and several post-its stuck on it.

“She can help you with this mess” He waves at the stuff on the table, Clint snorts glancing at Jane.

“My wedding planning” Jane deadpans.

“Yeah, that- the wedding stuff” 

Darcy raises an eyebrow, “Has she got experience on this?”

“Dude, you really are about to ask for references?” Clint cocks an eyebrow at her, Darcy throws a chip at him, “I’m just saying! We could use-“

Jane pounces over Clint and covers his mouth. The man whines but stays quiet, narrowing his eyes at Darcy when the woman giggles.

“Wouldn’t she be too busy?” Jane asks, “I mean, I’d love to have her help but if-“

Tony waves a hand, reaching for his phone, “Pepper does this kinda stuff all the time, she is the office party planner” he smiles at Jane, “I bet she will love to do this”

Jane lets out a breath and bites her bottom lip as he starts typing on his phone. Pepper had told him she needed a distraction from the whole Stark Industries vs Tony Stark mess, and the office gossip was driving her nuts. 

Almost immediately, his phone chirps. 

_I’m on my way!_

 

* * *

 

There has got to be something he’s missing. He stares at the computer screen, Bruce had sent him a follow up of their project and something wasn’t quiet right. They mostly talked about it outside of work because… What they were doing had nothing to do with what they were being paid for, matter of fact, it was way above their pay grade. It had taken a while to convince Bruce to help, and he managed to do it only after had convinced him it wasn’t ilegal to use equipment outside of work. Which was true, but he wasn’t sure if it was legal to use it without the boss’s permission. 

Pepper and Jane had left to Clint’s apartment to talk about the wedding – the woman arrived about twenty minutes after the message was sent, with a whole folder full of wedding plans, he felt bad because he knew Pepper had already planned a wedding in the past – while Darcy complained she was too tired and had gone to take a nap. He could hear her in her room awake though – giggling while she texted with her _boyfriend_ Scott. Yup, it was official, even though she hadn’t bring the guy around and her friends knew little about him. They often asked her to bring him around but she insisted it was not the right time just yet.

The doors open and he straightens in his chair.

“Pep?” 

Bucky Barnes enters with a frown in his face. He shakes his head as if Tony hadn’t already figure it wasn’t his friend, and closes the door behind him softly.

“Hey” He says, “Darcy?”

Tony nods at her door, “Texting”

Bucky cocks an eyebrow, “She needs something?” he reaches for his phone.

“No, no” Tony scratches his beard, “Her- um- she is- Scott” 

“Right” Bucky throws his phone on the couch and then sits, “I’m using the tv” he announces. 

Tony nods, “Sure, sure” he says. 

Bucky doesn’t say anything else or looks at him. He turns the tv on and then the videogame console, reaching for the remote that Clint had been using the day before. Despite having an inner nerd – he loved Star Wars – he never really got a hang of videogames, even though he sometimes distracted himself with Minecraft, and he wasn’t sure that counted. He goes back to his screen, and tries to ignore the sound of the shooting game Bucky is playing. Minutes later, he finds himself staring at Bucky’s screen then, and wondering if the violent looking game was okay for him, since he had his PTSD and all. 

“Do you use glasses?” 

Tony blinks several times at Bucky. Who glances at him.

“You squint a lot” Bucky adds, “at you computer, or when you are reading subtitles on movie nights” 

Tony frowns, “I don't” 

Bucky hums, “You should get that checked”

Then he goes back to his game. Tony rubs his eyes and then looks back at his computer, realising he might actually need glasses. Ugh, not even his father used glasses. 

"Did you know?" Bucky asks, Tony turns to him, "About Steve's... Job?"

"Steve Jobs?" 

Bucky turns to him with narrowed his eyes. Tony chuckles nervously and then rubs the back of his head.

"Yeah" he finally says, "A couple months-" 

"Months?" Bucky pauses the game, Tony gulps, "He told you month-"

"He didn't" Tony cuts him off, "Tell me, he didn't tell me, I found out" 

Bucky cocks his head confused, "How exactly did you..." He trails off, Tony stares until realisation appears in his face, "So did you... You know, saw him working at this..." 

"Club"

"Club, okay" Bucky scratches his jaw, "Is it like a nice place or..."

Tony frowns, "It's pretty fancy" he says, "Is that important?" 

Bucky shrugs, "I worry about where Steve spends most of his nights, yeah" he then adds, "I'm not judging him, _never_ , I was just... Worried"

Tony hums. After a short pause, he realises their conversation is over and goes back to his laptop, while Bucky goes back to paying attention to the television. He and Bucky had never been alone together, he often left first after movie nights and whenever he used the television, Clint or Steve were around. He pauses with his fingers on the keyboard and glances at the man, sitting alone in the couch while playing videogames like he had nothing else to do or no one else to hang with but Tony. 

"Hey, I haven't seen Matt around" he hears himself ask. 

Bucky glances at him but continues the game. 

"So?" 

Tony frowns, "I thought you guys were... You know..."

He doesn’t finish the sentence, pretty sure that Bucky gets what he means. And he thinks Bucky is ignoring him until he pauses the game a few seconds later. He stays quiet while he gathers his thoughts, and Tony almost regrets asking him about Matt, knowing more or less their previous history.

"Darcy told you to ask?"

He shakes his head. And Bucky scans his face.

"Matt and I were... A bit more than friends for a while" 

"I know" Tony says, and Bucky blinks at him.

"But that was before..." He waves his metal arm, "That Bucky is not anymore, and I'm fine now, I am, but I'm not the same he... Wanted" he finally says, "So I told him that it was better for us to not pretend"

Tony stares. Bucky shrugs, like saying ‘it is what it is’ and when he sees Tony has nothing to say and he has nothing more to add about that, he leans back on the couch and reaches for the remote.

"Bullshit" Tony says suddenly, Bucky frowns, "I get the whole deal, I do, you aren't the same but you still want to be loved the same, you deserve to have the same things you wanted back then even if you don’t feel like that person" 

Bucky opens and closes his mouth several times like he can’t find the correct answer to that.

"If you- if you love him and he still loves you" Tony adds, for what it’s worth, "Maybe everything else just doesn't matter"

For a few seconds, Bucky doesn't say anything. He just stares at him as Tony stares back, wondering if he shouldn't havee said that.

"You know, Stark" Bucky finally says, going back to his video game, "You are a good guy” Tony chuckles, “I get why Steve likes you so much”

His heart skips a beat. And he hates how happy he gets hearing Bucky say it. Not only because the man was Steve’s bestest best friend, but because that meant that Steve had talked about Tony with him. He nods and then pretends to continue his work. He knew how he felt about Steve, not only he liked the man and thought he was nice, but his initial fondness had grown into an unrequited, unwanted crush. He hadn’t told anyone about it, not even Pepper, because he knew that nothing could ever happen between them.

The door opens and he straightens when Steve walks in. He swears he hears Bucky chuckle lowly, but he ignores it. It was Steve’s free day, and he mostly spent them either sleeping or working on his painting. Either way, he never left his apartment during those days, which is why Bucky would normally wandered between Nat’s or Darcy’s apartment. He was forbidden to go to Jane and Thor’s since he had been banned after the whole Matt reunion sex thing (Jane had his keys till further notice).

“Hey, Stevie” Bucky says, focused on his game, “We were just talking about you”

Steve raises an eyebrow and looks at Tony, “That so?”

Bucky hums. Tony shrugs and Steve smiles softly. He too stares at the tv screen and makes a face, before walking towards Tony. 

“Hey” Tony says.

“Work?” Steve asks.

He nods and Steve looks at him sympathetically.

“You guys want lunch?” 

“Yes, please” Bucky practically yells from the couch, “Jane threaten me with making me something, I had to run from that apartment” 

Steve chuckles, shaking his head softly. He starts rummaging into the kitchen cabinets picking ingredients to cook something. _Is there anything he can’t do_? Steve is funny, kind, talented, cooks, and he’s hot as fuck. Tony sometimes stared at him for long seconds, wondering why was he alone. 

“Clint tells me you got Jane a wedding planner”

Tony clears his throat, “Yeah” he nods, “Well, it’s Pepper actually”

“Ah” Steve gets a tray of frozen chicken out of the fridge, “I could hear them talking about it, Clint mostly”

They hear Bucky snort from the couch.

“Thanks for getting Jane help” Steve tells Tony quietly, “She doesn’t like asking for help” 

Tony gets it. He was like that too. Whether it was pride or simply because he was used to figure things by himself.

He shrugs, “No biggie” 

Steve looks at him then, a kind of softens in his tired blue eyes that makes Tony squirm, and his insides flutter. The blond smiles at him and then reaches for a knife, starting to slice some vegetables. 

“Do you need help with that?” Tony finds himself asking. 

Steve raises an eyebrow, “You cook?” 

Tony didn’t.

“I can slice” He offers.

A small smile tugs from his lips, “Wash your hands then”

“Yes, boss” Tony hops off the chair and walks around the counter.

“And please, don’t burn anything” Bucky then says, “I get grumpy when I don’t get fed”

“You are always grumpy, Bucky” Steve retorts teasingly.

Tony barks out a laugh and Steve’s grin widens. He hears Bucky grunt something but ignores it, before Steve starts giving him instructions.


	7. The One With the new boyfriend

It feels like it was just yesterday when Darcy told Tony she was finally going to introduce Scott Lang to his friends, and he had smiled widely, and told her that it was about time. Tony had actually used the words ' _excited_ ', ' _finally_ ', and ' _meet_ '. In that order. 

And he'd be damn, he regrets being Darcy's hype man about the whole deal, while Jane – who was the only one who knew more about the man – had told Darcy to take as much time as she needed to introduce him to her family. Jane had included Tony in that phrasing and he had felt the need to hug and plant a kiss on her lips, but he didn't since Thor was a pretty _big_ guy. About that he knew since he walked in on Jane and Thor finally christening their 'love nest' a few days ago and it had been a huge hit for his self-esteem.

_Anyways._

The reason he (secretly) regretted it was... Because unlike the first time he met the gang, when he had been under the scope for a while and even Steve – who is now talking about Monet with Scott – had scrutinised him, every one of them seem to immediately be _enamoured_ by the older man. And he was jealous.

Tony knew how petulant he could get at times. Even in his job with Bruce, he sometimes went all 'don't touch my toys' man-child on him, more than once the man had called him out about it. But still, he couldn't help but envy the way Scott is welcomed to their lives so easily.

Scott is funny like Clint, smart like Jane, likes sports like Sam. He’s also witty like Natasha and likes books like Thor. The nail to the coffin – to Tony’s – is when Darcy tells them that Scott Lang works at an art gallery, and Tony sees Steve’s eye light up. He thought about what Lang and Bucky had in common, and when he couldn’t think of anything he was relieved, but then he had to mention he had a motorcycle (of course, he fucking did) Bucky had practically begged for a ride immediately. _Ugh_. It was as if they all had made the perfect man in some kind of super computer _Weird Science_ style. 

He glares at Jane because he's almost certain she had something to do with Scott Lang –funny, witty, cultured, smart, perfect Scott Lang – being there pissing Tony off.

And eating his pizza. 

Oh, and yes, Darcy had told him _the day before_ that she had invited Scott Lang for diner that Friday night.

“Now, what did poor Jane did to you?” 

Tony remembers he’s chewing – and glaring at the woman – when Bucky sits next to him. The man cocks an eyebrow at him, and he blinks several times, taking his eyes off Jane and staring at the plate in his hands.

“Nothing”

Bucky hums. Tony watches in mild-horror as the man reaches for two slices of pizza, stacks them one on top of another and then takes it to his mouth. Actually, he’s pretty impressed with the fact that he had seen Barnes eat like that almost every day, yet the man maintained his sculpted physique, not as impressive as Steve’s (though he might be biased) but still. He sighs as he hears Darcy laugh at something Scott said, and then the others around him follow. Clint literally chokes on his drink, before Sam rubs his back and tells him to slow down. 

“It’s normal, you know” 

Tony frowns at looks at the man. Bucky continues eating, and Tony waits for him to say something else.

“Be jealous” The man cocks an eyebrow, “That death stare is directed at Lang, right?”

He looks at the other man’s direction, and then nods, lips pursed as he looks back at his plate, where the last slice of pizza he took had already gotten cold. Bucky chuckles next to him. 

“I was jealous of Sam when he started to hang with Steve and Clint” Bucky continues, “Then about Natasha hanging with Darcy and Jane, and then I disliked Thor because… Well, Jane is like our baby sister” He looks at him, a small smile pulling from his lips. 

“Is that why Steve treated me like crap when we first met?” Tony asks, “Jealousy?”

Bucky laughs softly, “With him it was another different thing” he shrugs, “I’m glad it turned out like it did”

“How so?”

“You proved that you weren’t bad at all, and now we all like you” Bucky looks at the blond, who is chatting with Natasha on the other side of the room, “Steve specially” 

A smile pulls from Tony’s lips, and a rush of excitement runs through his body. Jesus, it was like being told by his crush that he liked him, or like the first time he built his first circuit board (he was 4) and his father told him he was proud of him. Being genuinely liked by people was… Nice. 

“My point is” Bucky says, “It’s a waste of time to be jealous of a new person coming to your life” He looks at Tony, “Specially if they have the same qualities that our friends already have, and we like so much”

Tony swallows. For him it had always being difficult to open himself to people, which is why he never had many friends, and maybe because people found him hard to be around with sometimes, but that just made him appreciate the ones who stayed even more. Bucky was trying to tell him to open himself up to others like they had opened themselves to him. He looks at Darcy, smiling brightly as Jane put her hand on her belly, Scott’s arm is around her shoulders and he looks mesmerised by the woman next to him.

Then he fells Bucky elbow him sharply (with his metal arm), and he winces looking at him.

“What the-“

“Don’t tell any of them about me being jealous” Bucky warns, Tony suppresses a grin, “Except maybe Thor, who wouldn’t be jealous of that”

Both look at the blond, smiling brightly as Jane tells him she felt the baby kick.

“Yup” Tony says, looking back at Bucky, “Makes sense”

The blue eyed man snorts and reaches for the pizza in Tony’s plate, taking a bit off it without even asking. Tony lets him, it’s probably the price to pay for Bucky’s Words of Wisdom®. 

“Come on, Steve!” Sam says.

Tony and Bucky looks at the group infront of them. Steve scratches the back of his head, a nervous gesture of his that Tony found so endearing, as Natasha rubs his shoulders.

Darcy pouts, “Please, show him”

Scott Lang chuckles, “If it’s not too much trouble”

Steve sighs and stands up, “Fine!” 

The group cheers as the man walks away from them. Before Steve leaves the apartment, he glances at Tony and offers him a small smile – Tony feels like he melts into a puddle – before he closes the door behind him. Tony’s lips quirk upwards, and he feels his cheeks blush, before he clears his throat and looks around to make sure no one saw him, but _of course_ it was Natasha the one who was paying attention. Tony cocks his head and looks back at the plate in his hands, now empty thanks to Bucky.

Tony lifts his gaze slightly, and finds Natasha still looking at him with a small smirk forming in her lips. When Tony frowns at her, she shrugs and looks away to continue pretending to pay attention to what Darcy had been talking about.

 

* * *

 

Turns out they wanted Steve to show Scott pictures of a small exhibit the blond had last year. He couldn’t show off his paintings since they had all being sold that day, but Clint had taken pictures and later made a portfolio for Steve. Tony doesn’t know much about art, but he loved what he saw, he couldn’t help but thinking Pepper would too. 

“He’s good, huh”

Tony is texting to Pepper about it when Sam’s voice makes him jump. He had to stand outside for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath for some reason. 

“You alright?”

Tony waves a hand, “Just texting my friend”

“Pepper” Sam says, and Tony nods, “She’s nice”

“Yeah” Tony smiles softly, “Also, yes, Steve is… Amazing” Sam’s lips quirk upwards, “At painting, he’s amazing at… Painting”

He scratches the back of his head, and his phone vibrates in his hand. Sam crosses his arms and leans against the wall next to him. Tony reaches for the phone and texts Pepper a quick reply, she wanted to know if he wanted to go shopping for cribs the next week and he had no other choice but to agree since he knew Pepper wasn’t going to take a no for an answer. 

“I think he should go back to art school” 

Tony turns to Sam, “Huh?” 

“He was in art school” Sam explains, “Steve” Tony nods, “His life sort of… Took a tumble after his mother died”

Tony isn’t sure why Sam is telling him that but he listens. Sam tells him that before his mother got sick, Steve had to take a break from studying to take care of her, putting his life on hold despite his friends doing their best to support him. After she died, Steve didn’t retake his classes and got a job. 

“I don’t understand why, though, he has enough money to finish school and pay his debts” Tony frowns, “Life insurance” Sam clarifies, “But he won’t touch it”

Tony knew Steve was… Proud. He doesn’t say it, instead he hums and licks his lips nervously.

“We have all tried to convince him to go back” Sam says finally, “Maybe he needs someone else to talk him into it” 

Ah. Tony scratches his jaw, feeling the stubble already growing there, and looks at Sam. The man wanted Tony to talk to Steve about something… Important. 

“Anyways,” Sam adds, “It’s your turn to do the dishes, man, we’ll wait for you before we start the movie”

With that, he leaves. And Tony sighs into the empty halls, wondering if he should actually talk to Steve or pretend like Sam hadn’t had that conversation with him.

“Fuck”

He’ll have to ask Bruce about it. Tony is about to reach for his phone again when he hears his name being called from inside the apartment. He’ll have to ask Bruce on Monday.

 

* * *

 

 

Jane is leaving a pile of plates next to the sink when Natasha suggests maybe next time using disposable ones, before she rubs his back and looks at him apologetically. Clint jokes about Tony never having to wash the dishes back when he was rich – and well, Tony really didn’t – which earns him a slap on the back of his head from Steve. Bucky’s shoulder shake as he laughs silently, reminding Tony of Muttley from those old cartoons he used to like. He might suggest the nickname for the man later.

He is in the middle of his task when Scott Lang appears behind him, leaving a couple of glasses next to him.

“Need help?” Scott asks, and he’s already rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. 

Tony hums anyways, but doesn’t meet his gaze.

Scott reaches for a plate, “I wanted to apologise, by the way”

He frowns at the other man. 

“For sort of dropping unannounced”

Tony shrugs, “Darcy actually told me” he replies.

His tone comes out dry, and he can tell Scott registered it. When he glances at the man with the corner of his eye, he can see him bite his bottom lip nervously, his eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“But hey, you did bring the pizza, so thanks” Tony adds, trying to sound cheery. 

Scott’s lips quirk upwards, “No problem” 

They fall in silence again, and while Tony thought about something to say, it looked like Scott knew what he wanted to say but wasn’t able to.

“Darcy um- actually spoke a lot about you” Tony starts finally, scrubbing the plate in his hands, “She likes you a lot” 

Scott smiles softly, his eyes finding Darcy across the room.

“She’s great” He says, “We… At first we thought what we had wouldn’t work, you knows, after she…” Scott points at his abdomen 

Tony frowns at first, and then he understands, “Oh” He says dumbly 

Darcy hadn’t told Tony when exactly she met Scott, but now that he knows they had met before Tony got her pregnant, he realises that what happened not only disrupted his life. He feels a stab of guilt for thinking that Darcy hadn’t had to change anything in her life because of it, and not asking before makes it worse. He owes her an apology, the thinks. 

“She didn’t like- you know, cheat on me” Scott adds quickly, and Tony realises he’s making a face, “We were just casually seeing eachother” he continues, “I have a daughter, you know?” 

Tony nods. Darcy had mentioned he was also divorced, for a while now but Scott hadn’t dated ever since.

“I wasn’t sure about getting in a relationship but Darcy just…” The man chuckles, “She is… Amazing” 

“She is” Tony agrees, he licks his lips, "I know its weird... Wherever we are standing but... I need you to now you are welcome here"

It surprises him as much as it surprises Scott, judging for the look on his face at the moment. But Tony can see that what Scott feels for Darcy is real, and most importantly what she feels for him. Scott’s eyes light up the same way Darcy’s did the night before when she told Jane and Tony that the man was coming for diner. Tony didn’t quite understand how Scott felt about Darcy being pregnant with another man’s child but that feels like a subject for later.

“Oh man, oh man” Scott drops the plate in his hand, and reaches for Tony’s wet one, “You don’t know how relieved I am”

“What?” 

“I know how important is for Darcy that you all accept me into your lives” Tony’s eyebrows shoot up, “Even if she doesn’t say so" 

That’s why he had spent all night ‘bragging’ about himself. Scott had been trying to win Darcy’s friends over _because of_ Darcy, not to make Tony jealous. Apparently not everything is about Tony, huh. 

Tony takes his hand back and smiles, “I’m sure you have won their approval”

Scott glances at the group, “They are cool” 

“Yeah”

Darcy sees them looking at them, “When you’re all done making out, make the popcorn!”

Scott doesn’t even ask before he is walking towards the pantry, while Tony narrows his eyes at Darcy. The woman grins widely and offers a thumbs up and then down, and Tony it takes him a few seconds to understand she wants his approval on Scott. _How the tables have turn._ Tony turns to Scott before looking back at her, and offering a thumbs up.

The new boyfriend is fine.


End file.
